


Pretending to Be Nice

by shyesplease



Category: Life with Derek
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-02 21:03:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 58,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4073779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyesplease/pseuds/shyesplease
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being challenged to be nice to Derek for a week, Casey soon realizes that she doesn't have to pretend like she originally thought when Derek mysteriously starts being nice right back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place during Derek and Casey's senior year. Casey is broken up with Max, and Sally just doesn't exist in this story, as well as Truman. Just to let you know.

Casey stood, head buried inside her locker before homeroom. She was gathering the necessary materials for her first class. Noel was standing to her right, talking to her about an English project they got appointed to do together the day before. At the moment, they were trying to compromise on a time to meet up and start the assignment. On her left was Emily, who was being uncharacteristically quiet. She looked over at her best friend to find her dreamily gazing across the hallway.

Casey rolled her eyes, knowing the particular action only warranted the presence of a _certain_ other person who she had the displeasure of seeing _every day_. Humoring herself, Casey glanced over her shoulder to indeed see Derek in sight. He was leaning against his locker, chatting up with various people of his 'posse'.

Turning back to her locker, Casey resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. Her step-brother was obnoxious and messy and irresponsible. She didn't understand why people thought he was 'cool' or why Emily – and seemingly the rest of the female population at their high school – drooled over him.

"Ooh, _Casey!_ He looked this way!" Emily excitedly expressed, swatting her hand in Casey's direction to gain her attention, but only managed to knock all of Casey's books out of her hands.

Casey closed her eyes in mild frustration before she bent down to retrieve the aforementioned books. As she stood back up, just like that, she could feel his presence behind her.

"Looks like Klutzilla is in the building."

Casey grinded her teeth. She was internally fighting over whether to slap away the smirk she knew was on his face or ignore him. Both sounded so appealing, though she hated giving him the satisfaction of riling her up. She began to count to 10 in her head to placate herself – a Paul technique.

"Is your own tongue falling over itself to the point you can't talk either?" he questioned knowingly.

"Shut _up_ , Derek!" she screeched, turning around to face him. His lips were lifted solely to the right side in his signature smirk. "I am fully capable of talking! Maybe I just don't want to talk to you!"

She then realized her mistake. She succumbed to his teasing, again, like a damn fish to his hook. For reasons beyond her, Casey couldn't fathom how he could entice a response out her so easily.

Derek mockingly put a hand to his heart, as if her words had wounded him. " _Ouch_! That hurt, Princess."

Casey stared at him pointedly, huffing. "If you're only here to make fun of me, Derek, then I suggest you find something better to do and leave me alone!"

She went to turn her head defiantly away from Derek when she noticed that Noel was still there, off to the side. He gave her a sheepish smile when she made eye-contact with him. She smiled back, guilty for unintentionally positioning him in the middle of one her and Derek's quarrels. He preceded then to hand her a notebook of hers that must have fallen earlier. She mouthed a 'thank-you' to him as she tucked it in with the rest of her books. He was just a sweet guy, unlike _some_.

Derek lowly grumbled, making Casey turn her attention back to her step-brother. He was glaring coldly at Noel, but swiftly turned to Casey when he realized he had her attention. His eyes immediately flamed with arrogance again, picking up their fight from where it was hung momentarily. "Don't flatter yourself. I was just buying some time before 'something better' got here," he replied, his voice veering off as he sized up a blonde across the hall. Without another word, he strolled over to the girl, who more than willingly allowed him to guide her down the hallway.

" _Pig_ ," Casey muttered under her breath.

The brunette moved her gaze from Derek's retreating figure to Emily. Her best friend's eyes were glazed over as they usually were when she was thinking anything Derek related. Casey cheaply laughed at Emily's actions, but let her linger. It wasn't until a few minutes later when Casey said farewell to Noel that she promptly shook Emily from her world away.

"I thought you said you were over Derek," Casey sneered as the duo began their way to homeroom.

" _I am_ , but you can't blame a girl for still liking to look! And you know, he really isn't that bad of a guy," Emily insisted. Casey snorted in disbelief. "Come on, you know I'm not lying. You've told me yourself about some of the nice things he's done for you, like that one time when he called your dad…or more recently when he helped at Marti's camp last summer or –"

"Okay!" Casey said quickly, before Emily decided to retell every little deed Derek has done that would pin him as a good – more like reasonably okay – guy. "He has his moments, _sure_ , but the fact that I can _count_ all of them is the problem! Everything he does is for a reason; the boy always has a hidden agenda."

Emily shook her head. "I think the main problem here is that you've never really given him a chance. Plus, you're never that nice to him either…"

Casey immediately stopped in her tracks at Emily's words. " _Excuse me?!_ I _have_ given him chances, but he's always his egotistical, selfish self! He's the one that has to ruin everything. And I _am_ nice to him," Casey claimed, "…sometimes…" she added as an afterthought.

Emily amusingly snorted to herself. "I bet you couldn't go a week being nice to Derek."

"I _so_ could!" Casey proclaimed, glaring determinedly at her friend. "And even if I did, he would still be an absolute jerk to me!"

"So, you up for it?," Emily insisted, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows in challenge, knowing fully well that Casey _couldn't_ turn down a challenge when she's presented with one. "Can you go one whole week – 7 full days – not yelling, fighting, belittling, or putting down Derek?"

" _Yes_ ," Casey spat confidently, "I'll be _completely_ nice to Derek for a full week – or at least pretend to – and that will show you that it really is his fault that we can't get along!"

Emily clicked her tongue, trying to will herself from grinning. "Alright, so if you can manage to be nice to him for a full week, I'll take you out on a little shopping spree with the money I got from my birthday. You're going to deserve a treat for holding in all that anger."

Casey's eyes lit up at the aspect, but then darkened as she eyed her friend. "But if I fail – even though I obviously won't – what do you get out of it?" Casey curiously asked.

"Some peace and quietness for at least a little while," she answered with a playful grin. Casey laughed, but accepted, making plans for her to start right after she got home from school that day.


	2. Chapter 2

Casey trudged up the porch steps of her home. She had purposely stayed after school at the library, trying to avoid the inevitable. It was now almost 5pm. She heavily sighed. She really did not look forward to a whole week spent biting her tongue and pretending to be nice to Derek. He didn't deserve her niceness! However, she was trying to prove a point to Emily. Plus, that shopping spree Emily promised was oh-so appealing.

Pausing just outside the front door, Casey could hear the living room television changing stations sporadically. Casey huffed. That meant Derek was watching TV. (He was very impatient when he couldn't find something worth watching.)

Taking a needed breath, Casey slowly opened the door to the house. She was greeted by an annoying creaking noise coming from the recliner, which was being rocked back and forth by Derek. Derek's face was intently fixated on the TV as he kept trying to find something to watch. Casey half thought (wished) she could sneak by his figure without his knowledge and put off actually dealing with him until later, but who was she kidding?

"Hey, Klutzilla!" he greeted loudly, turning his head towards her a second after her last thought. "You're finally home! Did you fall down a well or something?" He flashed her an arrogant grin.

Mustering everything within her to not comment back against the klutzilla jab, she plastered a fake smile across her face. "Hi, Derek, thank you for your concern, but I'm fine."

With that, she quickly climbed up the stairs, but not before seeing the wave of mass confusion wash over her stepbrother's face. It wasn't until she almost reached her bedroom door that she heard him yell, "I wasn't concerned!"

…

Casey reluctantly took her seat across from the bane of her existence like usual that night at dinner, though she mentally planned to avoid any unnecessary communication with him throughout the meal. If he wasn't talking to her directly, there was no need to contribute. No matter how badly she might want to comment about his womanizing, sloppy, and/or irresponsible ways, she had to pretend that these things didn't actually bother her.

Fortunately for Casey, the younger kids had monopolized the dinner conversation for most of the evening and any topic that might provoke Casey was avoided. However, when Casey was down to her last few bites, Nora suddenly asked her about her day, much to her chagrin.

"Just a normal day…" Casey told her mother with a small forced smile. She glanced at her mother when she said it, but immediately stared down at her food when she felt a heavy gaze directed on her from across the table.

"Though, can a friend from my English class come over tomorrow?" Casey asked, suddenly remembering that Noel had suggested that morning to get together the next day after school. "We have this project that we want to get started on."

"Of course, dear," Nora allowed, nodding her head politely.

"Why don't you just say Emily?" Derek spoke, small remnants of food falling from his mouth when he did. Casey tried to force the displeasure from her face. "I mean, Emily is your partner for everything and she's your only friend." He smirked as he finished.

Casey took a deep breath and smiled sweetly at him. "It's actually not Emily," she replied evenly. "My teacher picked our partners and I got paired with Noel, who _is_ my friend, actually."

Derek rolled his eyes, as if not believing that she could have more than one friend. "Who the heck is Noel?"

Casey bit the inside of her cheek. Numerous insults regarding his memory and intelligence were on the tip of her tongue. The boy was beyond oblivious. " _Noel_ , you know, the guy that was in the play with us?" Casey answered back. _As well as the guy you were glaring at this morning for no reason!_ Casey pointedly thought.

She saw realization dawn over Derek's features, and then he chuckled. " _That_ guy?" When Casey nodded her head in confirmation, Derek only laughed some more.

"What's so funny?" Casey questioned, trying her hardest to keep the edge out of her voice.

Waiting until his laughter subsided, Derek said, "Oh, nothing, except that he's a total dweeb. One of the many reasons why I laugh at you too."

Casey hiked up one eyebrow and let out a short laugh. "Well, if we're both dweebs maybe we're perfect for each other then, eh?" She said, giving Derek a wide grin.

Derek's face immediately sobered up. "Wait – are you actually thinking about going out with him?"

Casey only shrugged her shoulders innocently as she excused herself from the dinner table.

…

A couple hours later, Casey found herself watching a _Lifetime_ movie down in the living room. The movie was almost over and the heroine was just about to make a dramatic life-changing decision. And although the plot was overdone and somewhat predictable, Casey found herself oddly intrigued.

A heavy plop was then heard to her left. She shortly looked over and saw Derek situating himself into his chair, smirk already firmly in place. Trying to remain unphased by the annoying specimen, she turned back to the TV to watch whatever remaining time she had left before he changed the channel on her.

She faintly sensed him snatch the remote that was on the couch's arm a minute later. In her peripherals she could see his eyes light up at the thought of another victory. Then suddenly, but obviously not surprisingly, the channel changed to some sports game.

Slowly, Casey turned her head towards Derek with a bored-like expression on her face. "I guess I'll go to bed," she said, yawning. She stood up from the couch, raising her hands up slightly, stretching. "Enjoy your...whatever," she muttered, motioning to the program now playing on the TV.

She went to walk away, but Derek caught her wrist, keeping her in place. "I took the remote and changed your channel," he stated.

Casey then gave him an inquisitive look. "Okay…" she drawled out, "And?"

His eyes widened slightly, almost baffled. "I took the remote and changed your channel!" he repeated, this time with a little more infliction. "It was almost over too!"

She stared at him oddly for a few moments at his outburst. "Right," Casey opted to say, "but _Lifetime_ movies are basically all the same. I practically figured out the ending from the beginning. I'll survive," she finished, slightly chuckling.

Derek's mouth gaped open for a moment before he slapped it abruptly shut. "You're not going to try and wrestle the remote back? Or at least yell, ' _Der-ek!_ '?"

Casey shook her head. She turned to leave, but only then realized that Derek never dropped her wrist. Derek seemed to realize this at the same time she did, and swiftly let her go.

"What is _going on_ with you today?" Derek questioned. Casey felt like she could almost see _worry?_ in his eyes, but that obviously wasn't right.

The brunette girl shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about." Her tone was slightly higher than usual, however. Casey mentally berated herself because she knew that Derek knew that that was her 'I'm lying' voice.

Derek raised an eyebrow, clearly thinking along the same lines that she just was. "You haven't argued or picked a fight with me since this morning, what's up?" he asked, "not that, you know, I care, or anything…" he promptly added, probably realizing his first statement sounded much to the contrary.

Casey wanted to laugh so hard that she felt the inclination to snort. It was _actually bothering_ Derek that she was not fighting back. Who knew that pretending to be nice to Derek would freak him out so much? Casey suddenly felt like she had won the lottery.

"Maybe I'm just sick of all the fighting," Casey calmly spoke. She wasn't _technically_ lying. Casey did believe their fights got tiring from time to time. It could be quite stressful, and it left her voice raspy and parched more times than none.

Derek merely stared at her, as if he was almost baffled. He then raised his hand in an effort to begin saying something, but before he could question her further, she climbed the stairs and went to her room.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Derek found himself leaning back against his locker, brooding. His arms were crossed firmly and his face held a deep scowl as he watched the reason for his sour disposition. Casey.

His overdramatic, argumentative, grade-grubbing, klutz of a step-sister had flipped a one-eighty on him overnight it seemed. He couldn't begin to fathom what was going on in that keener-head of hers because she was actually being nice... _to him_! Derek just couldn't shake it.

He closed his eyes forcefully, and purposely knocked his head backwards into the locker as he tried to wrap his mind around the matter. When she had come home the day before, Derek had thought that maybe she was just trying to mess with him a little; it wasn't uncommon for her to try and ignore his plights. But today, she had let him use the bathroom first without any argument. And when he finally dragged himself downstairs, he was met with the mouthwatering aroma of chocolate chip pancakes that she said she made _especially_ for him. She even handed him the keys to the Prince, letting him have it for the day, even though it was supposed to be her turn.

Derek cautiously opened one eye to stealthily look in the direction of Casey's locker. She was facing towards him, but talking to Emily animatedly about something. She seemed to be acting regularly towards Emily. Though, come to think of it, Casey was acting like her normal self around everyone else at home too. She had even chastised Edwin that morning on how unbalanced his diet was when she saw he was only packing chips and a soda for lunch. So, why was she being super nice to just him? What game was she playing? Or was she serious about what she said about their fighting the previous night?

Both of Derek's eyes popped open, bugging slightly from the thought. The possibility that she had actually been serious about that could be dangerous. Their fighting was his key distraction from doing stupid(er) things. Because if he wasn't distracted by their fighting, he would get distracted by, well, her.

She was actually a very distracting individual. Like now, how her hair seemed to wave perfectly around her face, emphasizing her plumped cheeks even more as she smiled towards Emily. Or how the hallway lights bounced off her eyes, reminding him of the hue of the goalie crease just as it's been smoothed by the Zamboni – slick, smooth, electric blue. Or how her toned, dancing legs -

"I know I said I was okay with your infatuation on Casey, but staring _is_ kinda creepy," a voice jokingly interjected Derek's thoughts, making him inwardly panic at the unexpected voice and stand up straight from the lockers. He turned and fixed his gaze to where the voice came from, a quick explanation for his actions already on his tongue. However, it was just Sam, and Derek noticeably relaxed.

Sometime not long after Sam and Casey had officially ended their relationship, Derek admitted his feelings about Casey to Sam. (More like he was forced to after Sam heard about how weird Derek had acted during the Scott-Snot scenario, thanks to Edwin.) To Derek's utter shock, Sam was not mad, but highly amused at the idea. He even said that in hindsight it was pretty obvious. (Cause seriously? Male Code? Yeah, not his best work.)

"You seem a bit out of it. You alright, man?" Sam questioned. "I mean, you usually at least keep your doe-eye moments to a minimum," he teased.

"Shut up," Derek hollered good-naturally, lightly pushing Sam. Joking aside, Derek freely sighed as he tried to find words to explain the situation. "Casey is acting...different," he informed his best friend.

"Different how, you know, than usual?"

Derek shortly snorted, appreciating his friend for lightening the atmosphere a bit. He had been feeling smothered under his own thoughts. "Well, she being...nice to me."

"That _bitch_! How dare she?!" the sandy-haired boy exclaimed mockingly, chuckling instantly afterwards.

Derek rolled his eyes. "It's just...weird," he commented. "I feel like she's trying to get me back for something I did, and being nice to me is some sort of distraction from the big picture."

"I think you're thinking too much into this, D," Sam said, slapping a friendly hand on Derek's shoulder. "Why can't you just go with it? It might not last too much longer."

The leather coated boy groaned. " _Because_ ," Derek said pointedly, "I can't deal with a nice Casey! An angry Casey, no problem. But a nice Casey throws me off kilter; my guard gets lowered down and all these f-f-f-feel-ings start seeping out, making me do stupid, un-Derek like things. And I just _know_ that if it's a long-term change, I'm screwed. I'll end up asking her to marry me or something when she asks me to pass the salt during dinner!"

Sam couldn't help but snicker at that image. "You're definitely overreacting, buddy," he said in-between laughs. "Why are you making such a big deal about this? Who said anything about it being long-term? She's been nice to you before, but it never lasts. She'll probably want to rip your head off by tonight again."

"I hope…" Derek mumbled. His eyes then briefly flickered over to the girl in question, before he looked back at Sam. "But see, last night she told me she was sick of the fighting," he exasperated. "hence why she's being so nice to me..." Derek pulled at some of the matted hair on the top of his head, growling lowly in frustration. "I just don't know what to do..."

The dark haired teen fell against his locker again; the lock was gnawing into his shoulder, but at this point it was nothing but oddly comforting. "I can't openingly flirt with her like other girls because she's _Casey_ , _my step-sister_. Plus, she wouldn't fall for the crap I say anyway. We fight, we argue. That's how we've interacted since day one. How am I supposed to communicate with her now if she doesn't want to fight?"

" _Well_ ," Sam started, drawling out the word, "I'm not a rocket scientist or anything, but maybe you should try actually talking to her, like a regular human being, and, I don't know, maybe try being decent towards her?" He raised an eyebrow at Derek.

"You're right..." Derek admitted quietly, furrowing his brow downward in concentration. Sam's head shot backward in surprise at Derek's easy admittance. "...you're not a rocket scientist!" Derek finished, snapping. Sam rolled his eyes at his friend's tactics.

"I thought I already told you. I can't be nice to her! If I'm nice to her, I'm going to end up looking like a fool, a-la-Kendra style, but times, like, infinity! I mean, she made me _freaking chocolate chip pancakes_ this morning, man! I can't tell you whether I was drooling more over the pancakes or the fact that she was dressed up in this little apron and was serving them to me."

Not to mention that he had _many_ dreams of her that emulated something similar to what he walked in on that morning. However, in high-definition and senses fully aware and functioning, he might have fallen into a state of shock. Heck, Casey could have asked him to dance the hula in a grass skirt in that moment and he probably would've obliged. Luckily, she left the room before something happened. (e.g. tasting the inside of her mouth rather than his food.) Derek shook his head, trying to collect himself and rid the image of Casey flipping pancakes (and of other things that _obviously_ didn't happen) from his mind.

"All I know," Derek started again, "is that I need to make her stop this-this _nice_ thing! If she doesn't want to fight with me, I'm gonna have to make her! Because otherwise, I'm done for!"

Without another word, Derek pushed himself off the lockers and sauntered over to Casey and Emily.

"Emily," he greeted his neighbor warmly with a grin. He turned to Casey, quickly masking his face with indifference. "Spacey," he deadpanned. They both nodded to him in acknowledgment.

"So, Emily," Derek began, "did Casey tell you about the _awesome_ breakfast she made this morning?" He wrapped his one arm loosely around his step-sister's shoulders as he regarded Emily. He felt Casey stiffen under him, but she made no move to shrug him off like she normally would have done.

Emily was currently saying _something_ , but, to be honest, Derek wasn't exactly listening. He could see Emily opening her mouth, talking, but Derek's mind was more preoccupied with the brunette under his arm. She never really let him get this close without threatening bodily harm, so the proximity was already getting to him. He seemed to only be able to process the smell of Casey's coconut scented hair, and how that smell mixed pleasantly with the accompanied scent of butterscotch – which he knew came from one of her _many_ body lotions that littered the bathroom sink counter. It was driving him mad and his resistance was waning.

"Anyway," Derek hurriedly interrupted Emily on whatever she was saying, hoping they were still on the topic of breakfast. "I'm just glad Spacey finally realized that a woman's true place is in the kitchen," he spoke evenly, but challengingly, as he eyed Casey. "You should make breakfast more often. Maybe even work your way to making dinners too. And hey, by the time we graduate, you might be qualified enough to become Stay-at-Home Nora, two-point-oh!"

Casey's lip twitched, but instead of giving him a murderous glare or begin ranting about some feminist blah blah blah like he thought she would do, she smiled agreeably at him. "That sounds… _nice_ ," she said leisurely. "And, if I have some time in the morning, I'd love to make breakfast again. It _is_ a known fact that a big breakfast can help…"

Again, Derek zoned out. He could faintly hear Casey jumble something about statistics and energy. (Just because he liked her didn't mean he wanted to willingly listen to her try to shove knowledge in his head. There was a reason why he slept through half his classes.) It was hard to concentrate anyway because she was closer now; she had angled herself towards him to talk. His arm was (remarkably and shockingly) still around her and his heart was hammering; the thumping echoing deafeningly in his ears. Uncharacteristically, his hands were growing clammy as well.

And as she continued to talk, Derek couldn't help but watch as her lips parted and then met again as her words took form. Her voice was lulling him to the point that he was unconsciously leaning closer. (Her voice was rather spellbinding when she wasn't yelling at him.) His mind couldn't help but picture just how her lips would move against his own; he licked his lips instinctively at the mental image.

He suddenly jumped in place at the action. While doing so, Derek finally realized he had gotten slightly closer to Casey, and quickly retracted himself away, pointedly avoiding either girl's gaze in case they had realized it too. "Yeah…thanks for the…lesson, or whatever, Keener, but I've got to go," he abruptly said, feigning annoyance as he hiked his thumb over his shoulder. "I've got to skip a class or make-out with some random girl now," he then added, trying one last time to get her to react.

A moment passed.

"Okay, have fun!" she exclaimed happily instead, a smile widely etched on her face.

Derek couldn't hide the horrifying shock that plastered across his face. Though, swiftly catching himself, he nodded uneasily to the girls and pivoted in the other direction promptly.

"Have fun?" Derek quietly uttered in disbelief, repeating Casey's words as he walked away. No 'Pig!' or 'Slacker!' or rant on how irresponsible he was or a jab at his 'bimbos'? He shook his head in bewilderment. This was bad. Very bad.

….

Derek's mind was restless as he slid into his seat across from Sam at lunch. He had tried seemingly everything he could to get Casey irritated with him. He tried some old classics, like taping a 'Klutzilla' sign onto her back. He tried some new tactics, like gluing her notebooks together or replacing her pen with one that squirted ink all over her (was that new?) blouse. He even managed to make her late to most of her classes. (One instance might have included making out with a random girl on her locker.) However, Casey barely batted an eye. And now, Derek was panicking because he was running out of ideas.

"Plan 'Get-Casey-to-Yell-at-You' not going so well?" Sam humorously observed. Derek sent his friend a murderous glare, to which Sam merely held up his hands in surrender. "Guess not," Sam quietly murmured under his breath. Derek pretended not to hear.

Knowing he couldn't give up, Derek abruptly stood from his seat. Sam – with a sandwich lodged in his mouth – looked up at him, scrunching his face in wonder. Derek waved him off as he started to walk determinedly over to Casey and Emily's table. Sure, he didn't have the slightest clue what he was going to do yet, but Derek was a wingin' it kind of guy anyway; he'd think of something eventually.

"Hello, ladies," he greeted when he approached their table. He gave himself permission to plop down into the seat next to Casey, casually throwing his arm around her shoulders in the process. "I thought I could spend lunch with my neighborand _oh-so-favorite_ step-sister today!" he exclaimed, squeezing Casey's shoulders as he spoke the last words. He grinned manically and let his eyebrows jump comically at Emily, who seemed to understand his motives and was trying hard not to laugh at Casey's expense.

Casey remained resolute though and gave Derek a small smile. "If that's really what you want, Derek…"

Her response only fueled the determination in Derek, which further convinced him to spend the rest of his lunch period doing everything he could possibly think of to piss off Casey. Therefore, he shoved his face with his food – and Casey's food, if you included the croutons he stole from her salad. He spoke with his mouth full 99 percent of the time and made sure to sputter some of his chewed bits on to her. He spoke arrogantly loud and told Emily embarrassing stories about Casey that he knew his neighbor would never have heard otherwise. But despite all of this and more, Casey sat as still as a statue – quiet as one too – treating him as if he wasn't even there, like he was a ghost and she could not hear nor see him no matter how hard he tried.

Casey eventually rose from her seat to throw away her trash. Consequently, the movement caused Derek's arm to fall from her shoulders (Yes, it had been there the whole time!) and Derek felt the feeling of lost in more ways than one. He quietly sighed in his seat as he watched Casey walk to the other side of the cafeteria where the trashcans were held. He hated feeling so powerless, so helpless. He hated not having _any_ effect on her, when she had numerous effects on him by just breathing. It was bad enough that throughout the whole duration of lunch he was in close proximity with her again, smelling her fragrance and feeling her body heat radiating onto him. And even worse was that his eyes kept catching the ink stain on her blouse, which happened to be dangerously close to her cleavage. (His own pranks were against him now!)

Frustrated with Casey and frustrated with himself, Derek stared dismally down at the table top, suddenly finding great interest in the smooth surface; it was easier than admitting his, once again, failure to piss Casey off. But that's when he noticed Emily still had a piece of her lunch left untouched. He smirked as a light bulb seemed to figuratively shine above his head.

"You going to eat that?" Derek asked, gesturing to the still wrapped-and-uneaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Emily shook her head, so Derek took it upon himself to snatch it. He quickly undid the sandwich from the saran, while keeping an eye out for Casey – who was half-way back to the table.

Casey soon returned and, just as she was about to sit in her chair, Derek slipped the sandwich on to the seat. Derek had ripped the two pieces of bread from each other and situated them both face up on the chair. So, when Casey finally sat down, it only took a second after the quaint _squish_ sounded to know what Derek had done.

Derek immediately saw Casey's eyes widen with a pit of fury that he hadn't see in hours, and quite frankly missed. He started laughing hysterically, both from the prank and out of sheer happiness. His arms wrapped around his middle as he tried to cope with the severity his laughter was ensuing on his body. Casey looked as if she was about to blow steam from her ears and strangle him, and Derek could just help but think how perfect this all was.

Derek then watched Casey bite her lip and grip the edge of the table until her knuckles turned white, waiting impatiently for the scream fest that was long overdue now. Unpredictably, though, after a few more seconds ticked by, the flame in her eyes slowly diminished. She swallowed loudly, closing her eyes tightly as she did, before she twisted towards him. Her demeanor suddenly was cool and collected. "I think you accidentally left your sandwich on my chair, Derek. Sorry I ruined it."

Derek – who had still been snickering up until this point – stumbled over his laughter, abruptly stopping at her apology. His mouth then gapped at her words for the second time that day.

With that, Casey got up from the table and made her way to the exit. Derek followed her every move, shell-shocked. He was too flabbergasted to even take advantage of the excuse to stare at her ass, as she sauntered away with the two pieces of bread still stuck firmly to her rear.

When the cafeteria doors finally shut closed behind her, Derek turned sharply to Emily. "What is wrong with your friend?!" he insisted incredulously. "I just PB&J'ed her butt and _she_ apologized to _me_!"

Emily chuckled, which caused Derek to growl at her. If he couldn't laugh at the situation, surely no one else could either. "Listen," Emily started, "Casey just doesn't want to fight right now, okay?"

"But _whyyyy_ ," Derek complained, whining.

"She just has her reasons for why she's acting like this, okay?" Emily further stated.

Derek sneered at his long-time neighbor. What reasons could she possibly have? Unless… "So, she really is sick of the fighting?" Derek inquired wretchedly. He couldn't help but feel saddened by the possibility. He always enjoyed their spars and he thought she did too – to a certain extent, at least.

Emily's eyebrows nearly kissed her hairline, but she soon quirked her mouth to the side in an effort to try and hide a smile. Her eyes were currently holding a level of amusement and understanding that made Derek feel exposed all of a sudden. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as she said her next words carefully. "Listen, I really think you should start being nicer to Casey. Just cut her some slack. It might do some wonders. For the both of you."

Derek snorted, rolling his eyes. "Heh, good one, Davis," he sarcastically retorted. He linked his hands and placed them behind his head, hoping the action would attest the nonchalance he was attempting to convey. Inside, however, he felt like rattling.

Emily was telling him to bite the bullet just like Sam had basically told him to do earlier. But what if that was exactly what Casey wanted before she decided to turn the tables right back around? He couldn't let himself become vulnerable, particularly in-front of Casey. What if she was doing this all as a joke and was just trying to find new ways to mess with him? Hell, he would do it for kicks, so why couldn't she?

The thing that caused him the most uneasiness about the whole situation was that it all seemed too fishy for his liking. Casey had been nice to him before, sure, but with reasons. Now, it felt like her niceness was all coming out of the blue without any pretense whatsoever. It was like someone randomly decided a minute before face-off to ban a puck; it made no sense.


	4. Chapter 4

All practice long, Derek couldn't help but think about Casey's strange behavior and the possible why's behind it. He was beyond frustrated that he couldn't break her or even come up with a plausible explanation. Though, after flattening some of his teammates against the boards, he felt a tad better. But now, his muscles were sore, and he was tired and hungry. All he wanted at that moment was to eat his dinner, crash in his bed, and call it a night.

As Derek shuffled from the Prince to the front door, he could hear the buzzed chatter of dinner already in place. Casey's laughter shrilled over it for a moment and Derek could help but gently smile as he went to open the door. (That girl was turning him into a _huge_ softie.)

However, when he opened the door, not only was he greeted by his family just beginning dinner, but also by Noel Covington. In his seat, no less. Derek eyes grew cold and his lips pressed tightly together. He slammed the front door loudly, causing everyone to jump and turn to him.

"Fam," he acknowledged shortly, hanging his leather jacket up on the coat-rack. His eyes then zeroed in on Noel. "Nick."

"It's actually No-"

"Yeah, whatever," Derek rudely interrupted as he approached the table. "You're in my seat!"

"Derek, Noel is out guest. Surely you can sit somewhere else for tonight?" Nora offered, giving Noel a polite smile.

The hockey player let out a small laugh. He was not in the mood to even try and play nice tonight. "No," he said defiantly, never wavering his threatening gaze from Noel. "Well?"

Noel scrambled out of the chair, grabbing his plate with him as he did. Noel ended up taking Lizzie's usual seat next to Casey, since the younger McDonald just had to _graciously_ offer. Derek wanted to make a fuss over that arrangement as well – not liking how the guy was _next_ to Casey now – but decided that it would only cause unwanted attention. He didn't need to be raising any eyebrows over his behavior. It was one thing to get mad at Noel for taking _his_ seat, but to argue over another one, which he had no association to, might get his family thinking Derek hated Noel. And that would only sprinkle a trail of hints that could eventually shine a light on his real feelings towards Casey, and Derek had been successfully keeping that secret in the dark for a couple years now and he wanted it to stay that way. So, he kept his mouth shut.

Truthfully, besides the fact that he _hated_ when people sat in his spots, he only acted so nasty towards Noel because he knew Casey hated when Derek was rude or impolite to others. By Derek acting the way he was, he was hoping to entice a reaction out of Casey. On any normal day, she would have already been at his throat, yelling about his rudeness and lack of common courtesy. Today, to Derek dismay, she hadn't done anything at all.

Derek curiously glanced over at his eldest step-sister, wondering if she at least looked flustered. His heart skipped a beat though when he noticed her gaze was already matching his. Her eyes were questioning him, like she was trying to calculate his motives. Derek swallowed nervously and immediately diverted his eyes to the food on the table. He started to fill his plate up with a mountainous amount of food, hoping the weight of her gaze would lift if he started acting like nothing was wrong. Luckily, Nora and Lizzie chose only seconds later to start questioning Casey and Noel about their project, and Casey's eyes were focused elsewhere.

As dinner progressed, Derek could unfortunately hear Noel's voice drone on about some PowerPoint this and researching that in-between his violent chews. Derek just wanted to lodge a dinner roll down Noel's mouth so he would shut up. (Throwing him out of the house would have been a more favorable choice because then at least Noel wouldn't have been able to look at Casey so… _affectionately_ ).

It wasn't until Casey started talking that Derek slowed down his eating pace to pay attention. He internally smirked as he took note of her voice. He wasn't even listening to what she was saying, but by her tone, he knew she was thrilled about whatever the project entailed. _Keener_. He fondly thought; covertly hiding his smile as he took a sip of his drink.

The rugged hockey player chanced a glance at Casey for the first time since their little exchange earlier. Sure enough, her eyes were starry with enthusiasm, like he predicted just from listening to her voice. Her cheeks were flushed by her excitement and her hands were clasped together against her chest, as if holding the project close to heart. Her lips were curved upwards, and a small shine from her lip-gloss made her smile seem ten times brighter.

Derek couldn't seem to pull his eyes away. He felt captivated to keep watching and to take in all the minuscule movements her face made as she continued to speak. The girl was so passionate about everything she did and it never ceased to amaze him how utterly beautiful she looked every time.

"…practice, Derek?"

"Derek?"

"Whah?" Derek sounded, finally turning his head away from Casey to the general area of the table. If Derek was a blushing man, he would have been as red as the kool-aid dude, because surely he had been caught gawking by _someone_. "Sorry, I-uh-didn't hear what you said…"

Lizzie and Edwin both bent their heads downward as they chuckled. "I bet," Derek heard his brother mutter, and the two giggled some more. Derek glared at the two of them, but only kicked Edwin in the shin, since he was the only one he could reach.

"I asked if you had a good practice," George repeated, oblivious it seemed to everything that had happened previously.

Derek only nodded as he stuffed a big forkful of food into his mouth. The conversation quickly veered off of him when he failed to elaborate, which was fine by Derek. He didn't want to be in the spotlight tonight, especially now after being caught staring by Edwin and Lizzie – if the sniggers were any constellation. If Casey had just been acting like herself, he would have been too caught up in fighting with her than to stare at her like he did. He internally slapped himself for being so obvious again.

The conversation had instead directed towards Noel. His dad and Nora were asking him about school and what universities he was interested in. Obviously, Derek could care less where the geek went – unless that university happened to be the same one as Casey's. But from the names he heard Noel listing off, Derek couldn't recall, so none of them were any Casey had been motoring on about for the past couple months. He mentally cheered. It was one less thing to worry about.

"So, you write and recite poetry?" Nora asked Noel pleasantly. Derek could tell she was already very impressed by the tall, lanky boy.

Derek snorted before Noel could answer – not being able to help himself. "You write _poetry_?"

Noel gapped at the sudden question from Derek. (He was probably still a little intimated to say or do the wrong thing after the chair debacle.) Noel merely nodded his head.

"Wow, that's so lame," Derek expressed, laughing to himself as he continued to eat.

"DER-EK!"

Derek stopped mid-scoop in his plate of food to look up at the brunette across from him expectantly. When he was met with a blank stare, he only then realized that it wasn't Casey who screeched his name like that. He frowned in disappointment, before quickly turning to his father, who, now Derek understood, had been the one to yell his name.

"What?" Derek said, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, it's already lame that Casey does it, but it's even lamer than Joel, here, does too! What guy writes poetry?"

" _Noel_ ," Noel quietly corrected, but Derek didn't spare to acknowledge it, or him.

"I think it's rather a charming hobby for men," Casey commented innocently. "Most of the greatest poets were men. There was Blake, Wordsworth, and even Shakespeare…"

Derek's blood was beginning to boil as Casey continued to rattle on. It was ticking him off that she was defending Noel, but all in the same, he felt excitement course through him as he could feel the buildup of a fight brewing.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Derek cut in, "that was all in fancy tights and hat times. No _real_ man would be caught writing poetry in this age unless he had a death wish or was a prissy!"

"Derek!" George yelled from his seat. His dad's face was considerably red. "Go to your room!"

"But-" Derek began.

"NOW!" George insisted.

Derek rolled his eyes, letting his utensils clang nosily down onto the plate. Although he wanted to stay a bit longer – at least long enough to see if Casey snapped – he got up from his seat and trudged up the stairs.

…

An hour and a George lecture later, Derek found himself in bed, staring up at his ceiling in thought. (He was thinking a lot lately, wasn't he? Damn Casey!) He hadn't meant to go as far as he did at dinner. He honestly had no intention to bash Noel, and maybe he could blame his tiredness on his first slip, but once Casey interjected, he had thrown all common sense out the window in hopes that he could spark a fight.

And, okay! He didn't exactly like Noel anyway. Having Noel at dinner had driven Derek nuts. Not only did the guy sit in his seat, but Derek was pretty sure Noel liked Casey as well, and Derek didn't like competition. Least not forget, only the night before, Casey mentioned that she and Noel were 'perfect for each other', which might have turned Derek a bit territorial than usual tonight and have fueled him to make the comments he made, too.

In a round-about way, Derek had been trying to show Casey who was clearly more manly, thus making him the better choice – not that she was choosing…but if she was.

It didn't matter whether he was manlier, or was faster, stronger, or more athletic than Noel. She would never choose him. Casey looked for qualities in guys that Derek knew he didn't have. She expected guys to do things Derek swore he would never do. She wanted a guy who would be sensitive, write her poetry, give her flowers, be chivalrous yet aware of her feminist rights, and la di da di da. And Noel was all of those things. Derek then picked up a dormant tennis ball that had been lying on his desk, only to immediately chuck the object across the room in frustration.

The thing is, Derek _would_ do that stuff for Casey. Or at least try, if she gave him the chance. The giving him a chance part was the ringer, since Derek barely – if not at all – popped up on her radar. (He was pretty sure her brain's defenses had him on high alert and labeled as 'most unwanted'.) He wasn't the romantic type, naturally, but he would try, _for her_. And God, he doesn't know when she managed to wrap him around her finger like this, but she had, and he surprisingly didn't care. Somewhere along the line he fell for Klutzilla herself. (Irony? Karma? Or both?)

Derek heavily sighed. He absolutely despised his predicament. He usually wasn't one to be timid around girls, but just like how he prided himself on being the exception to seemingly every rule, Casey was the exception to everything regarding him. She made him nervous. She made him cautious. Casey was intimidating and stubborn and like no girl he had ever crossed paths with before. Casey was the only one brave and daring enough to look him in the eye and call him out on his bullshit. She was the only one who didn't swoon over his charm and let him get away with everything.

He was already way in over his head, but then he had to factor in the fact that she was his step-sister. Someone that he wasn't even supposed to be thinking about this way to begin with. And with that added factor, he knew for sure he could never tell Casey his feelings – unless by some miracle he found out she reciprocated. Because if she turned him down, it wasn't like he could ignore her like he did to the girls at school or the mall. She lived in the room next to him. She ate dinner across the table from him. And when they finally moved out, he'd still see her at family events. Her constant presence in his life would only be a reminder to him that she would never feel the same – and Derek didn't deal with rejection well to begin with, but with Casey, she had the power to really do some emotional damage.

But, if for some crazy reason, he did end up telling her how he felt and she didn't feel the same, how could he be sure that she wouldn't use it against him. Now, Casey was by no means him, which means she wasn't very manipulative, so it didn't seem like something she would do. However, from all the stunts and pranks he has pulled on her over the years, not to mention the things he hasn't done yet, who's to think she'd not use his feelings against him as leverage? Derek just couldn't take that chance. It would be like providing a noose to his own hanging.

It's why he had been trying so hard to keep this all a secret and under wraps. Sam didn't even know the extent of Derek's f-f-feel-ings. He was scared shitless of Casey's reaction – rejection. He'd rather have Casey continue to yell and scream at him, than risk the possibility that she would shut him out (kinda like she was doing now, but completely). Derek winced at the image of Casey not even sparing him a glance; at least her recent behavior hadn't gone to that extreme.

Though, at the rate he was going today, the whole world would know how Derek felt towards Casey. First, Sam had interrupted him looking at Casey, meaning just about anyone in the hallway at that moment could have too. Not to mention what happened at dinner, which now meant that Lizzie and Edwin were probably suspicious, and suspected _something_. Casey's behavior was throwing him for a serious loop, and he needed to learn how to control this situation before it cost him.

A musical ring then floated throughout the room, indicating that someone was calling Derek's cell-phone. Derek trekked from his bed to his desk, where his phone was lying next to his computer keyboard. Picking up the device, he checked the caller id; it was Sam.

"Yell-oh," Derek answered, greeting his friend half-heartedly.

"Well don't you sound cheerful," Sam quipped sarcastically. "You still pissed?"

"I'm not pissed," Derek insisted.

"Right," Sam agreed curtly, "and you also didn't try to decapitate me and everyone else on the team at practice today…oh, wait…you did!"

Derek groaned heavily into the phone as he dropped into his desk-chair. He was already heavily annoyed from the day's events, not to mention grumpy. "What do you want, Sam? I'm kinda running low on patience if you couldn't figure that out!"

"Just wanted to make sure you were alright, dude. You've been a little kooky today and I just wanted to make sure you didn't kill of the fam or something in your frenzy…"

Derek snorted. "Sam, I'm annoyed, not homicidal." The oldest Venturi kid then thought back to dinner. "Though I wouldn't have been against popping Covington in the face earlier at dinner…"

"Covington? Noel Covington?" Sam questioned. Derek could almost picture his best friend's face skewed up in confusion over the phone.

"Yup," Derek spoke aloofly, popping the 'p'.

A few seconds ticked on until Sam seemed to make a revelation. " _Oh_ …so he was there for Casey…" Sam spoke softly. "Is there anything going on between them?" Sam spoke up again. There was an edge of pity clipped onto his words, but Derek decided to not acknowledge it. Derek wasn't usually one to let a girl get him so worked up, and Derek couldn't let Sam know Casey had that type of effect on him. Derek didn't do pity, and he surely didn't need anyone's sympathy. He was a man. He could deal.

"Don't think so," Derek replied, propping his elbow on his desk so that his free hand could rest against his cheek. "He came over to work on a project, but that didn't stop him from making eyes at Casey the whole time."

"She into him?"

Derek sighed, dragging a heavy hand over his face tiredly as he contemplated the question. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure I heard her tell someone after the play that she wasn't interested, but then she still hangs around him and thinks his poetry is 'charming'," Derek ended, mimicking Casey. "But if she doesn't like him now, I guess it's only a matter of time until she does, eh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Noel is everything Casey looks for in a guy. Like she said last night, 'they're 'perfect for each other'."

"She said that they were perfect for each other?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, last night during dinner. I was making fun of both of them – called them both dweebs or something – and that's when she said it," Derek explained.

"And you still haven't found out why she's being so nice to you?" Sam suddenly asked. Derek raised a brow at the sudden subject change, but decided to not comment on it.

"Why do you think I went on a rampage at practice?" Derek deadpanned with a dry chuckle. "But nope! Still don't know what the Space-Case is doing. I even asked Emily at lunch about what was going on, but that was a bust! She just said that Casey 'had her reasons' – whatever that means…"

Derek could hear Sam hum in thought. "Did Emily say anything else?"

Derek wracked his mind, trying to remember the conversation from earlier that day. "Um…just something about that I should 'cut Casey some slack'…and something about how being nice could do wonders for the both of us, but that doesn't make much sense…right?"

"Whoa…" Derek heard his best friend utter breathlessly. Moments passed and Derek almost thought Sam had hung up, but then Sam's voice began speaking again. "What if – what if Casey knew Noel was like her perfect guy, but when she finally saw what she thought she wanted, it wasn't what she expected…"

"Huh?!" Derek hollered into the phone, scrunching his whole face inwards in bewilderment. Sam was talking gibberish now.

"You said that Noel is like Casey's dream guy, right?" Sam paused for Derek's verification then continued, "but maybe after getting to know Noel – her So-Called-Mr. Perfect – she realized that her ideal guy wasn't so cracked up to be. What if she realized that she wants something a little bit different than she once thought?"

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sam! You're talking riddles, just come out and say what you think!"

"Fine!" Sam said, exasperated, "I think Casey is being nice to you because she likes you, like you do her!"

Derek's mouth fell agar as his eyes popped. His heart rate was quickly gaining speed and Derek found himself unable to breath for a split second. "Wh – how – Are you high?! Why would you think that?!" Derek stuttered; he was finding it quite difficult to formulate words at the moment. Beads of sweat were already fully perspired on his forehead and he was feeling very lightheaded all of a sudden.

" _Not high_ , my theory does make sense. I mean, come on, listen! Casey says she doesn't want to fight with you anymore. She then stops teasing, yelling, and insulting you, and starts being overly nice. And all of this is just _sudden_ , correct?" Derek let out a strangled noise, but Sam took that as confirmation.  
"Casey is not one to lie or deceit; she's terrible at it. So, this can't be a scheme to get you back for anything, or else you would have figured it out by now, D."

Sam didn't want his best friend to become too overwhelmed too fast, so he paused for a moment, letting the information linger in Derek's mind a bit before continuing. "And then there are the things that Emily said. The 'reasons' for Casey acting so nicely could very well be Casey's crush on you. With Emily knowing that, she told you to be nicer to her. And the whole Noel and Casey being 'perfect for each other' thing can be viewed as Casey trying to get you jealous…"

"Wha - Your theory sucks ass!" Derek cried out wildly. "Why the hell would she like me, when I _know_ she hates me?!" Derek couldn't fathom how something he swore could only be hypothetical minutes before might actually be happening.

"Okay, first off, Casey doesn't hate you, regardless." Derek scoffed at the idea, but let Sam continue. "Secondly, like I said, maybe she just started liking you because Noel – someone she might have thought was perfect for her – ended up being not so perfect for her. Then maybe somehow, through all of this, something clicked in her head and her affections targeted on you!"

"Goddammit, Sam! This conversation has surpassed girlish! I feel like I'm talking to that shrink of Casey's…"

"D, stop avoiding the subject," Sam demanded lightly. "Admit it; you know my theory has merit. It perfectly explains why she's not already dating Noel, and why she's being randomly nice to you."

Derek deeply sighed, and slouched his shoulders in defeat. " _Fine_ ," he relented reluctantly, "sure, it makes sense, but this is the same girl that probably has my funeral planned at a moment's notice. So, excuse me for finding all of this hard to believe!"

Sam rolled his eyes at his best friend naivety. "D, people can change their minds about people, as well as their feelings for those people. I'm not saying Casey's been pinning for you all this time, but that maybe, now, something changed her mind and she likes you. The question now: what are you going to do about it?"

"Who the hell said I'm doing anything?!" Derek voiced incredulously. "We're not even sure if your precious theory is right!"

"Then test it," Sam stated simply. "Ask her out or something. If she accepts, then surely she likes you back."

"I can't just ask her out! She wouldn't take me seriously – she'd think I was pranking her."

"So…what are you going to do? Because if Casey really does like you, you don't want to miss that opportunity," Sam advised.

"Well, I guess I'm gonna have to be nicer to Spacey…maybe show her that I'm not completely awful?" Derek answered, still unsure though. Derek was already racking his brain for ways to show Casey that he could be a nice guy, to her in particular; maybe hint to her how awesome of a boyfriend he could be if he wanted in the process.

"But this morning I thought you said you couldn't be nice to Casey, since it usually makes you do stupid stuff?" Sam inquired, suddenly remembering the conversation and how dead against his friend was at the idea merely hours before.

"Yeah, well, that was before I realized my life entered the twilight zone," Derek retorted.


	5. Chapter 5

The constant beeping of the alarm clock trilled until Casey's hand blindingly hit the snooze button . She usually wasn't one to hit snooze, but yesterday had left her overly exhausted. Not only had she woken up extra early the day before to make Derek breakfast, but Derek had pushed her to her mental extremes with all his pranking and taunting. If he had a similar day laid out for her today, she needed to muster as much rest as she could.

It's not like she didn't prepare herself for _some_ type of retaliation on Derek's side. Derek doesn't like being told what to do and he hates when he feels like he isn't in control of a situation. Telling Derek that she didn't want to fight anymore was most likely translated into Derek-speak as 'try and fight with me more'. So, it only made sense to Casey that Derek would try to pull something to get his way; he was predictable, being a boy of routine and habit as he was. However, Casey couldn't understand why he was trying _so_ hard. Sure he pranked her and teased her, but never to this degree and for this long. It was puzzling.

10 minutes later, the alarm reluctantly rang off once more. With a huff, Casey refrained from hitting the snooze again, knowing that she couldn't put off the inevitable forever, or else she would be no better than Derek.

Eyes still closed, she swung her legs over the side of her bed. She craned her neck from one side to the other, trying to ease out the cricks from her slumber. Suddenly, her stomach growled with hunger. And maybe it was because she was so empty-bellied, but it seemed like she could almost smell the mixed aroma of maple and brown sugar oatmeal with earl-grey tea. Although seconds later when she finally opened her eyes, she was surprised to find that the meal was actually present and laid out nicely on her desk.

Casey walked over to the food suspiciously. The only times she ever ate in her room were either when she was too sick to make it downstairs or she was receiving pity from her mother. At the moment she was considering the latter. Nora was probably feeling sorry for Casey about dinner the previous night with Noel and trying to make up for Derek's rudeness. _Or_ maybe this was a Derek prank, given his current streak. With that in thought, Casey promptly inspected the food, twirling a utensil around the bowl of oatmeal to look for strange lumps and lifting a spoonful to smell. She didn't see anything peculiar or smell anything toxic, though she half-wondered about laxatives.

Her stomach groaned again, almost as if it was making up her mind for her. So, Casey sat down at her desk and bravely ate the oatmeal and sipped the tea – both which seemed to satisfy her stomach and quiet it. It was actually a quite pleasant meal to wake up to, since it was her favorite. She'd have to thank her mother when she saw her next.

…...

After a surprisingly still-hot-and-prankless shower, Casey strolled down the stairs into the kitchen after she was done getting ready for the day. Lizzie was eating a bowl of cereal at the counter, as were Edwin and Marti. She surveyed the kitchen closely, looking for a mop head of brown hair, but the nuisance seemed to be nowhere in sight, so Casey relaxed and took a seat next to Lizzie.

"Where's mom and George?" Casey asked, noticing that both set of parentals were missing from the kitchen as well.

"George had to leave for the office early and Mom's downstairs trying to get some more sleep before she has to drive Marti to school. Apparently, she didn't sleep too well last night," Lizzie explained.

Casey nodded her head. "And where's the Devil himself?" Casey wondered out-loud, surveying the kitchen over again. She was half-convinced he was hiding away somewhere, only to scare her when she least expected it. It wouldn't surprise her if Derek was letting her fall into a false sense of security before pranking her again. Though, she just wished he would do something already! She felt like she was walking on eggshells.

"He left to go to school a while ago," Edwin spoke in-between bites.

Casey's one eyebrow shot up. "Since when does Derek ever willingly leave for school early?"

Edwin merely shrugged as he continued to shovel scoop after scoop of cereal into his mouth.

Casey frowned. Maybe Derek had an early hockey practice today, she thought to herself. Casey's eyes widened. "Shoot! He probably took the Prince!" Casey scrambled out of her seat to the front door. If she didn't leave now, she would be late for school. Derek probably deliberately didn't tell her his plans so she'd have to walk in the winter cold.

The frantic teenager put on her heavy coat and grabbed her school essentials in record time. She began to hurriedly exit the house, but stood shell-shocked on the porch when she saw the Prince still parked in the driveway.

_Weird..._

Casey fished inside her purse for her pair of keys and entered the driver's side of the vehicle warily. She found nothing amuck inside the car, such as a whoopee cushion under the seat cover or sticky glue on the steering wheel. She turned the ignition on, thinking maybe Derek only left the Prince because it was low on gas and he didn't want to fork out the money. But when Casey looked at the gas gauge, it was half full. Casey's face involuntarily scrunched up in confusion, but she decided not to think too much about it and just be thankful.

Thinking positively, she thought of getting to school, especially since she rarely ever got the opportunity to get there this early. Derek usually liked to keep Casey waiting until the last minute most mornings.

Without another thought, Casey backed out of the driveway and headed to school.

…...

When Casey entered Thompson High, it was still mildly empty. Admittedly, Casey loved school in the early mornings the most. Teachers were busy weaving inside and out of classrooms in preparation and planning. The students were still too tired to be obnoxiously loud – or at least the students who came _this_ early were – so studying was easy to attempt. The sound of murmured conversations, lockers slamming, and the heavy steps of heels hitting the tiled floors distinctively stood out throughout the halls because of the emptiness.

Enjoying the early morning atmosphere of the school, Casey happily walked down the halls to her locker. But upon opening, she noticed a single daisy flower taped to the inside door. She softly gasped. Her one hand shot over her mouth in an attempt to muffle it.

Casey reached over to unfasten it from the door and took the respective flower in her hand, regarding at it appreciatively.

"Ooh, a flower! Where did you get that from?" a voice said from behind the eldest McDonald child. Casey jumped in surprise. She turned and saw it was only Emily.

"It was in my locker," Casey stated distractedly; her focus still heavily on the white flower in her hands.

"Well, it's no rose, but I guess it's the thought that counts," Emily commented dryly.

"Daisies are my favorite flower though..."

"Oh?" Emily sounded, "Do you know who gave it to you?"

Casey shook her head. "But it has to be someone close enough to me to know that I like daises, right?"

Emily shrugged. "It could have just been a lucky guess..."

"True," Casey murmured, fingering the steam of the flower and twirling it in her hand. "This morning has just been... _unusual_..."

"Unusual?" Emily questioned. Her face then progressively lightened with eagerness. "What else happened this morning? Did Derek prank you?"

"That's the thing," Casey started, "I haven't seen Derek at all this morning. And he didn't leave any pranks – not that he would leave a prank un-witnessed anyway. But by the time I got downstairs, he was already gone."

Emily furrowed her eyebrows. "That _is_ weird. Especially, since all yesterday he was dying to get you to yell at him," Emily pointed out, letting a small chuckle escape her lips as she remembered some of his attempts.

Casey scowled, remembering the day before as well. However, after remembering Derek's reactions to her there lack of, she smirked. "He really was dying, eh?"

Emily smacked her friend playfully on the arm. "You're supposed to be being nice to him!"

"I am!" Casey insisted, laughing nevertheless. "It's not my fault that even when I'm being nice that he goes off the deep end."

Emily rolled her eyes. "I will never understand you two..." she said. "Oh, so how was the rest of the day yesterday? Did Derek prank you then?"

"Derek was at practice until dinner, but even then he seemed quiet. Well, except when he somewhat insulted Noel, but that's just Derek for you."

"I forgot Noel was going to be over last night. What did Derek say to him exactly?"

"Oh, just something along the lines that Noel is prissy for writing poetry."

Emily chuckled. "That's Derek, alright. So, he seriously did nothing else?"

"Well, because of his comment, he got sent to his room, so even if he wanted to, I don't think he could have. This morning is another story though..." Casey explained, veering off then in thought. She glanced towards where Derek's locker was, but he was nowhere in sight, despite the fact that most of the students were coming in now. However, she did see Noel near-by.

"Noel!" she called out. Noel's head swung around at the sound of his name. When he saw that his caller was Casey, he started walking her way.

He smiled bashfully when he finally approached. "Hey, Casey." His eyes then flickered to her hands. "Nice flower."

Casey looked down at the flora. She had forgotten that she was still holding it. "Thanks," Casey imparted. "You didn't...?" she wondered aloud. It would make sense if Noel had been the one to give her the flower, since she did receive a mysterious bouquet after the play that she thought was Noel _then_.

Noel shook his head though. "Is that what you wanted to know?"

"No," Casey answered. She pinned the flower quickly back onto the inside door to free her hands. "I just wanted to apologize on behalf of my neanderthal of a step-brother. He really doesn't know when to stop."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Noel said, waving his hand in nonchalance.

"No, really-" Casey began, but the tall boy in-front of her raised his hand for her to stop.

"Honestly," he said pointedly, "it's okay. Derek actually apologized a few minutes ago about it. Well, as best as Derek can apologize, anyway."

Casey and Emily looked at each other with their eyes and mouths wide.

"Derek? Derek Venturi? My step-brother, Derek? Apologized?" Casey interrogated in shock. Noel nodded. "That's really...unbelievable..." There really were no others words to describe it.

"Tell me about it," Noel said, chuckling.

…...

Casey did finally see Derek in their shared 3rd period. However, when he walked into the classroom, he kept his head down and avoided Casey's eyes. And once the hour was over, he was the first to scurry out of the room – though that wasn't anything new. However, Casey was getting the idea that he was avoiding her. But as Casey sat down at her lunch table, pondering the possible reasons as to _why_ he was suddenly avoiding her, Derek caught her by surprise when he sat down opposite of her.

"Hey," he greeted quietly. His voice was incredibly too small and fragile sounding to belong to the teenager in-front of her. Casey was somewhat peeved that Emily wasn't there to witness this because she wouldn't ever believe it if Casey mentioned it.

"Derek, are you okay?" Her concern was genuine. Derek didn't act this way. Not unless something was wrong.

His head shot up and he made eye-contact with her for the first time that day. It sent both a wave of relief and chills throughout her body. "Fine," he mumbled. He dropped his eyes to his hands, which were tangled around each other.

She watched him carefully, waiting, since he obviously was trying to say something, but didn't know how. Eventually, she heard him take a deep breath before he began talking again. "I just wanted to say...sorry...for my behavior yesterday..."

He looked back up at Casey, who must have looked like a deer caught in headlights, if not anything less.

"You said you wanted to stop fighting, but I didn't want to listen. I was an asshole yesterday and I put you through shit that you didn't deserve, so I'm sorry for that," he continued – now at least cursing like himself. "I guess I'll try to not fight with you anymore."

Casey held her head. Nothing was making sense at the moment. _Derek_ was instigating that they should try to get along. The only logical explanation she could conjure was that he was a pod person, or she was stuck in some alternate universe. It had to be because the Derek she knew would never be this nice to her, willingly. The Derek she knew never _apologized_ – especially twice in one day!

His gaze was drilling holes into her eyes. He was visibly waiting for _some_ response. "So, we're going to be civil?" she questioned dubiously, finally speaking. The idea seemed like a faint dream. _Was_ she dreaming?

"I guess..." he answered. "That's what you want, right?"

For the sake of her promise to Emily, Casey slowly nodded her head. She couldn't allow herself to vocalize her answer though, in fear that she would admit that she actually did enjoy their fights. That their morning relay to the bathroom was just the spark of adrenaline she needed to wake up. That his pranks were what kept her on her toes and alert. That their pointless, stupid fights were actually something she had grown to oddly crave – if she was being completely honest with herself.

"Cool..." he drawled out. He gazed everywhere but at her as he sat in silence for a couple of seconds. "Did you... enjoy your breakfast this morning?"

Casey sniggered. "Are you _that_ desperate for a topic to converse to me in?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. His adam's apple bobbled noticeably along his throat. "Well, it's the first time I've made that tea thing, so I just wanted to make sure it didn't taste horrible…"

"Wait," Casey said, holding up a finger in thought. Derek stared at her with curious eyes. " _You_ made me my breakfast this morning?"

Derek nodded. And as she studied his face – dare she say – looked sheepish?

"Did you put something nasty in it?" she inquired. She wasn't being ungrateful, but she did have the right to know if she should expect a trip to the bathroom any time soon.

"No!" Derek hollered, "I promise. I didn't. Nothing in the oatmeal either, I swear!" He took a finger and made a crossing motion over his heart. "It's just, you made me my favorite breakfast yesterday, and so I thought I would return the favor!" he further explained.

"How did you know it was my favorite breakfast?" Casey couldn't help but wonder. To memory, she never recalled proclaiming such a fact about herself. Was he trying to take credit for something her mother could have easily done?

"Please, princess, I know you better than you think." And just like that, his whole demeanor seemed to shift back to that of her Derek, smirk included. Not- not that he was _hers_ , but the Derek she was used to. "You _always_ eat it on days when you have a 'big' test or another 'big' event, so it will jump-start your day on a good note, no?"

To say Casey was stunned was an understatement. "You're correct," she answered, almost mutely. Derek grinned victoriously.

"Well, then, thank you. It was...really good." She gave Derek a small, maybe it was a little forced, smile. This whole being nice to him thing was just as new as it was for him to her.

"Good," he said simply, with a nod. "And did you like the... flower?" he asked, coughing out the last word.

If Casey had been drinking anything, she definitely would have spat it out. The pod person theory was definitely looking good at this point.

"That was you, too!?"

"Well, yeah. Who else do you know can break into school lockers?"

"Derek," she started softly, pursing her lips, "not that I'm not appreciating the kindness and endeavors, but couldn't you have just said sorry and then have been nice to me? Why the big effort?"

Suddenly flustered again, Derek opened and closed his mouth a few times. He resembled a fish so much Casey wanted to snicker, but she held it in. "You mean I _didn't_ have to go all-out just to get you to forgive me?" He finally voiced. Casey shook her head and Derek swore under his breath. This caused Casey to finally laugh.

"Hey, I don't appreciate my _unnecessary_ acts of kindness being laughed at!" he hollered, wagging his pointer finger at her. Casey knew he was doing it lightheartedly though, if the massive grin on his face meant anything.

Casey's laughing evened out. "You're right, I'm sorry. Thank you for all you've done for me today. I really do appreciate it."

"And thanks for letting me know I was wasting my time," Derek wisecracked. "I was about to give you a Derek-free day, too. But I guess now you're stuck with me!" He cooed and then leaned over the table to pinch Casey's cheek lightly as if she was a child.

Casey playfully swatted his hand away. "I thought you said we were going to be civil?"

"Neither of us are screaming nor attacking the other's throat," Derek pointed out, shrugging. "I consider that very civil." He winked at her.

Casey pouted. "I guess the Derek that made me breakfast and left me a flower was nice while it lasted..."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Do you know another Derek? Because I don't recall such a thing." His lips curved further upwards, increasing his smirk. Casey couldn't help but mirror the expression as their eyes locked in a heavy, sportive stare.

"Hey, guys!" Emily chirped as she sat down beside Derek.

The two step-siblings broke their gazes at their neighbor's greeting.

"Well, I guess I'll be going," Derek said, getting up from the seat as he spoke. His eyes flickered to Casey's for a moment before he looked over at his usual lunch table. "Sam and Ralph have been waiting for a while..."

"Of course," Casey agreed. "You don't want to keep them waiting too much longer. Ralph looks like he's about to drive Sam up a wall, so you should probably save him."

Derek chuckled. "Right, so...see-ya..." he dipped his head down as a farewell and made to walk away.

"Wait!" Casey instinctively shouted. Derek instantly faced her at the sound. "Would you like to eat with us?" Derek hiked an eyebrow at this as he regarded her oddly – not that she blamed him. She didn't even know what possessed her to do this. "You can even invite Sam and Ralph if you want..."

Derek crossed his arms and then looked over at his friends then back at Casey. "Okay," he agreed slowly. "But that also means that your sandwich is half-mine! I'll go get the guys."

When he turned his back to go to his table, Casey rolled her eyes, but nevertheless grinned. She looked up, however, to find Emily watching her in bemusement.

"What?" Casey demanded lightly.

"Inviting Derek to eat with us?"

Casey shrugged. "I didn't think you'd have a problem with it..."

"Oh, _I_ don't have a problem with it. It's just that yesterday you were ready to hose the boy down the stairwell, but today...?" Emily cheekily grinned. "Why the change of heart?"

Casey sat dumbstruck. She felt she could only blame it on sporadic word vomit. However, what's done was done. She couldn't retract her offer now anyway without it coming across as rude. Plus, she was oddly enjoying herself when she and Derek were talking moments before and part of her wanted to see if she could continue it.

"He apologized," Casey eventually stated, breaking herself from her thoughts. "I offered him to eat with us, so that he'd realize I wasn't holding anything against him."

Emily stared at her doubtfully.

"I was just being polite," Casey further asserted.

Emily hummed. "Sure you were."


	6. Chapter 6

It was just after dinner and Casey still found herself sitting at the dining room table. Only now, she was studying for an English test, rather than eating. However, _attempting_ to study may have described her situation better. She was reading the text, her eyes following the lines down the page, but once she'd reach the bottom it seems she had not soaked in any of the information.

Her mind was too preoccupied. It kept flicking back to various parts of the day, especially lunch. Casey bit her lip to cover a developing smile as she thought back. Besides making her breakfast and leaving her a flower that morning, Derek hadn't done anything else extravagant. And while he still managed to tease her throughout the entire lunch period (pulling at her hair, stealing her food, etc), he had actually been _sweet_ – in a Derek sort of way. It was in his voice and actions that struck Casey as different. Everything he did was light in humor and fun – playful, even – rather than in its usual malevolence or loathing. He even threw her trash away for her, flashing her this dazzling grin, like he actually didn't mind.

Casey even began to realize why Derek was so popular and well-liked. He was... _fun_. He actually wasn't _terrible_ to spend time with. He came up with very interesting things to talk about and they all shared a lot laughs.

Casey then frowned as she tucked her legs around the ones of the chair. Maybe these past feuding years really had been her fault instead of Derek's. Maybe if she wasn't so uptight and regulated, he would have treated her like he had today – almost like a friend. Maybe Emily was right. Maybe she was too preoccupied with herself and her wants that she never gave Derek a proper chance…

The front door then slowly opened and in snailed the boy himself. His hair was a wet, tangled mess and his shoulders were held stiffly high, wincing every time he moved an inch further into the room. His eyes were half-opened and his small steps were clumsy. As he finally managed to close the front door, he let his hockey bag roll off his arm and onto the floor below with a huge thud. He contently sighed, letting his eyes close fully at the sudden relief.

When he finally opened his eyes back up, they seemed to immediately lock with Casey's and she suddenly had the urge to blush. She quickly diverted her gaze back to her textbook and cleared her throat. "Difficult practice?" she questioned. She turned the page of her textbook, like she had actually been reading it.

" _The worst!_ " he complained. Casey could hear his feet shuffling slowly against the hardwood towards the couch, eventually hearing the air in the cushions give as he collapsed onto them. "I have no energy left. Luckily, I took my shower at the rink because I don't even think I could climb the stairs right now!" Casey wrinkled her nose just at the possibility of what the stank could have been and thankful she didn't have to experience it. "I don't even know how I drove home," Derek continued, though it was slightly muffled with a yawn.

She heard him sigh and moan some more as he tried to make himself somewhat comfortable on the couch. "And I'm _starving_ ," he further complained, his stomach growled loudly to comply shortly after. Casey could picture the small pout he was no-doubtfully wearing.

Casey bit her lip as she toyed with the pencil in her hands. She was pondering whether or not to cater to him. If it had been her mother or Lizzie, or even George, Edwin, or Marti, she probably wouldn't have even thought about fixing them a plate and just done it. However, this was Derek and they didn't usually do that stuff for each other. She was torn. _But_ , she had to be nice to Derek, and Derek was actually being somewhat nice back recently, so maybe she should?

Derek's stomach rumbled again, and when he made no effort to fill it, Casey knew that he truly was too exhausted.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she promptly abandoned her seat and entered the kitchen to prepare Derek a plate of the leftovers from dinner.

…

When the food was finally all heated up and ready to serve, Casey walked the food into the living room. Her hockey playing step-brother was still splayed out on the couch, but now his eyes were closed and he was evenly breathing – sleeping.

Casey sighed before extending a finger to poke him lightly on the shoulder. "Derek?"

He groaned, keeping his eyes shut. "Derek?" she attempted again, this time using her entire hand as she prodded him.

He lifted his one hand briefly, making a small motion, as if swatting her away. "Sleep," he mumbled.

" _Okay_..." she mockingly exasperated and made a noted step backwards. "And to think: all this food is just going to get cold and go to waste...Lizzie will sure have something to say about that..."

As if on cue, Derek cracked one eye tentatively open in interest. His gaze immediately saw the plate balanced on Casey's left hand, and quickly both his eyes were open in a pleasant surprise. He proceeded to lift himself so he could lean his back against the couch arm and reach for the food, his fingers wiggling greedily.

Casey laughed as she handed him the plate, then took a seat on his recliner thereafter to amusingly watch.

Derek didn't waste any time before devouring the dinner – moaning and groaning in satisfaction. "Thank you!" he exclaimed in-between bites. "I could kiss you right now," he continued before shoving another forkful into his mouth.

Casey's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open reflexively at his admission.

Derek progressively slowed his chewing. He then forced himself to swallow whatever food that was remaining in his mouth, before he completely stilled. After a calculated time passed, he tore his gaze from his plate and glanced at Casey, who now just had her eyebrow raised inquisitively.

" _Could_ ," he stressed quickly, "not-not that I actually would though..." Clearing his throat, Derek turned back to his plate.

Casey bit her lip, trying to will the blush creeping up her neck not to surface on her face.

A thick silence hung between them and the pressure seemed impermeable. Sensing this, Casey quickly rose from her seat. "I'm-just-I'm-going to go," she stuttered, pointing to the dinner table to indicate what she couldn't put into words, and hurriedly went to her destination.

"Yeah, you...do that," Derek commented lamely.

Casey quickly took her seat back at the dining room table. Her hands were shaking and her heart was racing and her breathing was irregular. All because of the incident she just encountered with Derek. In an attempt to get a hold of herself, Casey began performing some therapeutic breathing exercises.

She had no idea why she was reacting the way she was. Derek just said something stupid – not like that was uncommon. What he said wasn't that bad either. It was something people said all the time. He probably would have said it to Edwin or anyone else if they had gotten him food. He was merely showing his gratitude. It surely didn't mean Derek would _actually_ kiss her if he could. Did it?

Casey's thoughts were broken as she heard the television turn on. She noted that Derek immediately flipped the station to a hockey game.

No. Casey was just over-thinking once again. She was just reading _way_ too much into the situation. Derek would never kiss her. He may have been nicer to her that day, but kissing was in a whole different arena she knew Derek would never step in – not that she wanted him to.

Resolutely, Casey pushed the incident to the back of her mind and tried to restart her studying.

"Noooooo!" Casey heard Derek exclaimed from the couch a few minutes later, raising his fist up angrily at the TV set. The chorus of boo's could be heard from the audience at the game as well.

"What happened?" Casey inquired, her curiosity getting the best of her. She got up from her seat so she could see the television better.

Derek craned his neck backwards into the cushion to glance at Casey. When he made eye-contact, he quickly turned his head back to the game. "Flyers scored."

"Oh..." Casey voiced, trying to make sense of what Derek said but failing. What were these 'Flyers'? And why was he so mad over them scoring? "Why is that bad?" Casey questioned. "Aren't the teams supposed to score…the touchdowns?"

Derek chuckled, sending her an amused smile. "You score _goals_ in hockey, Case, not touchdowns." Casey blushed at how foolish she must have sounded. "And it's bad because the Flyers are the opposing team. The home team is the Leafs – the team you want to win."

"I see," Casey spoke, walking over to Derek's chair to sit. She began to watch the screen intriguingly. What was it about this violent game could make Derek react so fervently? "And which one is the Leaves? Which color?"

" _Leafs_ , Case. Not Leaves," he corrected her, laughing some more, but not in patronizing way. "And they are wearing the blue jerseys – see, they even have a huge maple leaf on the front," Derek explained, pointing a finger to the screen to further show her. "And the other team, the Flyers, is wearing the white. Got it?"

Casey nodded her head. "The fact that they are called the Leafs and not the Leaves is bothering me though. It's not grammatically correct," she mumbled to herself, but Derek must have heard her because she saw him shaking his head and whispering 'keener' to himself humorously, yet affectionately? Casey shook her head. That wasn't likely.

They continued to watch in a reasonable silence, which brought relief to Casey, considering the awkwardness that they were in only minutes before. It only justified the fact that Casey had been overreacting to Derek's 'kiss' comment and was making it a bigger deal than it really was.

However, she was soon distracted from the screen when she felt the sensation of someone watching her. In her peripherals she could tell that Derek was looking at her now, rather than the game. She turned to face him, "What?" she queried softly.

He looked a bit started by her sudden question, but then relaxed. "Nothing," he claimed simply, immediately directing his gaze back to the TV screen. Casey raised an eyebrow, but let it drop without further interrogation.

A few more minutes passed by, but Casey still couldn't quite figure out what was going on. She thought maybe she should try to go back to studying, but she already knew that her mind was too restless for a task like that. It was frustrating though. She couldn't properly study like she wanted, but she also couldn't understand a minute of this sport!

"So, basically the object of this game is to get that flat ball into one of those huge nets more times than the other team?" Casey asked.

"Yup," Derek confirmed which made Casey feel somewhat proud. She felt like she wasn't a complete dunce about hockey like she had been originally thinking. "Though the 'flat ball' you're referring to is actually called a 'puck'," he continued, smirking.

All too quickly Casey felt humiliated once more, her cheeks glowing with a soft pink hue. Casey didn't like not knowing things, even something trivial as sports.

"Puck," she repeated, trying to remember the term for future reference. "Got it."

"Don't you know _anything_ about hockey?" Derek honestly questioned, positioning his body so he was fully facing her; one leg tucked in on the couch, while the other hung over the side. Casey shook her head. "Canadians are practically injected with hockey knowledge as babies. You're going to tell me you know nothing about it?"

"I guess they missed this baby," Casey replied, pointing to herself.

"You didn't even pick up anything from all the times you went to my games?" Derek expressed disbelievingly. "I mean, you're not dumb, Case, you should have been able to pick up _some_ lingo or concept."

Casey smiled softly at Derek's small compliment, but quickly dipped her head, a tad ashamed. "Truthfully, I never _actually_ watched your games. I'd just study my notecards or something while you guys played," she admitted.

She watched as Derek's face swiftly morphed from amusement to disappointment. "Oh," he quietly muttered, before turning his body and attention back to the game, though even then he didn't look like he was concentrating on that.

Casey raised an eyebrow at Derek's strange behavior. He was acting like he was upset that she didn't watch him play. But that couldn't be true, right? This was the same boy who always made such a big hassle over her attending these said games because he claimed she was bad luck. Why would he care whether she actually watched or not?

Regardless, he was brooding – his eyebrows were hunched downwards, his arms were crossed, and he was slouching more than usual. These were the subtle, nonverbal clues that Derek was upset about something. Guilt swept over Casey. She didn't want him to be upset at her, especially not after the nice day they had. She bit her lip as she contemplated on what to do.

"I'm sorry I never watched any of your games," Casey eventually opted to say moments later, "I always thought that you never wanted me to."

Derek didn't respond. He was ignoring her.

"Can you teach me then?"

Casey watched as Derek's brows furrow up and down as he debated whether to reply to her or not. "Teach you what?" Derek sullenly asked, now acknowledging her but was still refusing to look at her.

"Teach me about hockey…" Casey elaborated. "Well, as long as you don't start teaching me terms like 'fling-flong' and 'groin kick' again," she quickly added as an afterthought.

Derek's face involuntarily broke out into a small grin, probably recalling the memory. Casey smiled as well, feeling triumphant that she was able to get him to smile again.

"As funny as that would be, I wouldn't," Derek promised, finally looking at her. "Football is a stupid sport to begin with, but hockey – hockey is the ultimate sport. I'm not going to have any step-sister of mine not know how hockey works on my watch. I'm doing a noble service by helping you learn it. I hope you know that!"

"I appreciate it greatly, oh hockey guru."

"Are you being sassy, McDonald?" Derek accused and wiggled his eyebrows at her comically.

"Just telling the truth, Venturi," Casey insisted, shrugging her shoulders with a lazy smile on her face.

"Damn right," Derek boasted, winking at Casey. "Come here," Derek then instructed, patting the cushion next to him on the couch. "It'll be easier to point things out to you if you're closer," he reasoned.

Casey hesitated for a moment, but brushed the peculiar feelings and thoughts to the side. This was Derek for crying out loud. She was acting foolishly paranoid, so much that she almost snickered to herself as she took the seat Derek directed her to. Derek was just being nice.

"Ask what you want to know," Derek told her, referencing to the screen. Casey nodded her head and began to watch the game.

However, a minute in, the game cut to commercial and Derek left to get some snacks. He came back with two drinks – one for her and one for him – and a bowl of popcorn. She gave him a grateful smile as she took the drink he had gotten for her. He sat back down just as the last commercial ended, but this time he was a lot closer than before.

When he had left, they had both been on their own respected cushion, but somehow they both had gravitated towards the middle, their sides brushing against each other, yet not quite permanently touching. It wasn't like the closeness was uncomfortable – quite the opposite really. It was actually a reasonable distance, compared to the day before when his arm was constantly around her shoulders. Even then, she felt unexpectedly relaxed after the first initial wave of awkward tension passed.

"Popcorn?" Derek offered, sticking the bowl towards her. Casey surmised that he must not have realized how close they were, since his face was impassive. Casey let herself smile and reached for a couple pieces of the white snack.

As Casey chowed down on her popped kernel, she couldn't help but wonder about Derek's sudden change in behavior. Sure she rapidly changed how she treated Derek, but she was the lesser of the two evils to begin with. Plus, Emily had more or less challenged her to be nice to Derek. So, why was Derek suddenly being nice? He had seemed pretty motivated the day before to get her to argue. Where did that inclination suddenly go? It surely didn't just evaporate into thin air and Derek surely didn't give up (Derek always got what he wanted).

"Helloooo!" Derek hollered, waving a hand in-front of her face. "How are you supposed to learn if you're not paying attention and asking questions? And you call yourself a good student!" Derek lightheartedly mused, poking her in the side.

Casey giggled, squirming at the tickling sensation. "Sorry, sorry," she apologized. "I'll watch."

…

"What's high-sticking?" Casey asked after a player on the Leafs had gotten penalized for it. The game was in the 3rd period with only 10 minutes left of playtime.

"It's when the hockey stick goes above the players head," Derek clarified.

"Well that's kinda ridiculous," Casey stated.

"Like most penalties, it's merely a safety precaution. You don't want someone lifting their stick too high and hitting someone in the eye."

"Ohhh, that makes sense now. Though I still think it's stupid to have a whole penalty for it. Players should just know not to do it," Casey reasoned.

"But if it wasn't a rule, more players would play dirty. At least with a penalty for it, players have to watch themselves, or else they serve their time," Derek pointed out.

"Do you play dirty?" she asked, veering her eyes away from the screen to Derek's form.

Derek looked over to her as well. "When you say dirty…" he started.

"I mean when you play hockey!" she insisted, blushing at what he was instigating. Derek laughed at her flushed face. She was too easy to embarrass; it wasn't fair.

"Yeah, sometimes. Only if the other team is playing dirty though. You gotta level the playing field. Can't let them get away with too much," Derek finally answered her, after he stopped laughing.

"But it's against the rules."

"Only if you get caught," Derek confessed, smirking arrogantly.

"Derek!" a voice shrilled behind the duo. Recognizing it as his father's voice, Derek rolled his eyes.

They could hear George rounding his way to the couch. "I thought I told you that this week you couldn't go on any da-" But George stopped midsentence when he caught sight of Casey. "-tes," he lamely finished.

Nora appeared at George's side then and they both looked puzzlingly down at the two high-schoolers, peering at their closeness. "Uh, hey, Casey. I didn't realize that was you…"

Casey politely smiled at her step-father. "Not a problem."

"What are you two doing though?" Nora wondered aloud. George and Nora were looking at them like they had sprouted another head.

"I wanted to learn more about hockey, so Derek's teaching me," Casey answered. She could see Derek smiling proudly next to her.

"Oh…okay," Nora expressed breathlessly. "Well, it's nice to see you two getting along…"

George was still staring at the two closely, as if he was getting ready to interrogate a witness in court. "Yeahhh," he drawled out, "Almost too good to be true – Derek you're not teaching Casey the wrong stuff, are you?" George suddenly questioned.

"Have you no faith in me, Dad?" Derek asked. George raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Derek sighed, "I promise, I'm teaching her the right things."

"Good! And it better stay that way," George stressed, pointedly looking at Derek to show he was serious.

Nora rubbed her husband's back to try and calm him. "We're going to the store. We'll be back soon," she told the two teenagers as she walked over to the door, pulling George behind her.

When front door shut, Derek let out a short cackle. "Man, they make it look like us getting along is a sign of the apocalypse."

Casey laughed. "My mom's probably going to ask me about it later."

"My dad will grill me about it too."

"My mom will probably figure I'm only learning hockey for a boy, like I did football for Max," Casey admitted, shaking her head at her mother's logic.

Derek was quiet then. "Are you?" he asked timidly. "You know, only here so you can learn this for some other guy? I mean, you never just sat down and watched a game with me before."

Casey paused, trying to read this complex boy in-front of her. He almost looked downcast at the possibility, yet parts of his eyes were hopeful. Hopeful for what though?

"No, I really want to know," Casey honestly assured, trying to convey with her eyes that she wasn't just using him to get another guy. Though, as weird as it was, she was technically learning hockey for Derek's benefit. She thought if he was the one that taught her about hockey, that he would forgive her for not watching his games. "Plus, I can't be a proper Canadian without it, right?"

"Good, I mean, right…right..." Derek spoke, chuckling over his fumble.

They continued to stare at each other. Derek was looking at her from under his long eye-lashes with a great intensity. Casey couldn't explain why, but suddenly she found Derek's chocolate eyes very magnetizing, drawing her in and sweetening her soul. A genuine smile spread across his face. Not one of his smirks, but an actual cheek-wrinkling smile that Casey had only ever associated with Derek. She couldn't help but smile back timidly.

She wasn't sure if it was the proximity or the bizarreness of this moment that was messing with her brain or not, but it almost seemed like Derek really did want to kiss her, despite his denial earlier that evening. The question was: would she let him if he did?

A buzzer than loudly rang from the TV signally someone scored, causing both of them to jump, inevitably breaking them out of their heavy gaze. Derek turned his head to the TV screen to see what had happened and Casey followed his lead, trying to distract herself from thinking certain thoughts about a certain step-brother.

They silently watched the last two minutes of the game together. Silently being the operative word. It seemed like they were back to that awkwardness from earlier.

When the period finally ended, leaving the Leafs defeated by one, they both slowly got up from their seats and climbed up the stairs. They both stopped in front of their bedroom doors to look over at the other. Casey knew she wanted to say _something_ , _anything_ , to break the tension, but her mouth didn't seem to want to open. They finally opted to politely nodding goodnight to the other before going into their own rooms.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey," Emily greeted, as she strolled up next to Casey the following morning. "I tried calling both your house and cell phone last night, but no one was answering."

"Really? Sorry, Em," Casey apologized. She hadn't even noticed that she had missed any calls. "I was downstairs in the living room all night and I left my cellphone upstairs. I don't remember the house phone ringing though…"

"It's alright. I wasn't calling for anything important," Emily assured, leaning against the locker next to Casey's. "What were you doing downstairs? Studying, _again_!" she lightly teased.

"A little bit," Casey admitted, laughing at her predictable self. She began switching books from her locker to her bag. "And then I watched some hockey with Derek…" Casey continued, trying to make the statement come across casually, as if it was no big deal. Why should it be anyway?

"Wait," Emily said, holding up her hand as she gathered her thoughts, "you _willingly_ watched hockey – _a sport!_ – with _Derek_?" Emily then took the hand she was holding up and pressed it against Casey's forehead.

"Stop!" Casey hollered, swatting the hand away. "It was nothing. I was done studying and had nothing to do. He was watching hockey on TV, so I joined him. Alright?"

" _Sureee_ ," Emily said, but by her tone she obviously didn't believe her. "So give me the deets!"

Casey looked over at her friend shyly. "I might...have asked...him to teach me about...hockey…"

ooo

"Casey wanted to learn _hockey_? She was watching _hockey_?" Sam asked incredulously. "She didn't even do that when we were dating!"

Derek propped up the collar of his leather jacket. "What can I say?" Derek replied, shrugging nonchalantly, though he was radiating with joy.

"So, do you believe my theory now?" Sam wondered. "'Cause you got to admit, she was showing _major_ signs last night that she's into you!"

"I don't know…" Derek told his friend unsurely, nervously playing with the end of his leather jacket; his previous confidence exponentially dwindling. He chose then to steal a glance at Casey. It looked like she was getting grilled about something from Emily. As Casey rolled her eyes at something their neighbor said, her eyes caught Derek's for a moment. Derek smiled in an attempt to keep things light, but Casey quickly deflected her eyes to the ground.

Derek dejectedly sighed as he turned to his friend. "After everything that happened last night, things are kinda awkward. We didn't even speak at breakfast this morning or on the way to school..."

"Why?! What would make things awkward?" Sam wondered, "'Cause from just what you told me, she was totally flirting with you last night!"

ooo

"Emily, we were not flirting!" Casey proclaimed ghastly. The older McDonald girl couldn't believe that Emily would think their interactions from last night could have been labeled as flirting!

Emily rolled her eyes at her naïve friend. " _Right_ …."

"We weren't!" Casey insisted.

"What's that river in Egypt?"

"I'm not in denial," Casey asserted. "I was just being nice, and so was Derek. That's it."

It was safe to say that Casey had been freaking out ever since last night. Casey had already analyzed everything that happened that night, including all the things Derek did earlier that day, and each conclusion seemed to end at some impossible, outlandish outcome. Even worse, everything Emily had been instigating was planting crazy thoughts in Casey's head, if not watering the seeds Casey had already placed there herself. She couldn't even look at Derek without feeling guilty about her thoughts because they had to be so so false, right?

Emily began to open her mouth to rebut, but Casey cut her off. "I'm going to homeroom," Casey hastily proclaimed, speeding by Emily before she could stop her. She couldn't take anymore of Emily reinforcing her crazy thoughts because then she might start to believe them.

ooo

"You took my advice!" someone hollered excitedly right near Derek's ear, swatting him quite harshly on the arm in the process.

"OW!" Derek cried out, covering his wounded ear with one hand and rubbing his arm with the other. He looked over to the perpetrator to find it was Emily. "Jeeze, Davis! Are you trying to kill me?"

She merely shook her head. She was bouncing on the balls of feet, grinning madly like the Joker. Derek took a hesitant step back, a tad frightened by his neighbor at the moment.

"You took my advice!" she repeated again, though, thankfully, this time in a lower decibel. "You're being nicer to Casey!"

" _Actually_ ," Sam spoke up, "he took _my_ advice."

Emily pouted. She crossed her arms as she turned to Derek. " _Oh_ , so you'll listened to Sam, but you won't listen to me? What did he say that I didn't?"

"That Casey might like him back," Sam chirped in before Derek could say a word.

"SAM!" Derek yelled, shooting daggers at his best friend. Not only was Emily Casey's best friend, but she was also Thompson's gossip queen! Casey would know by next period if not sooner.

Emily snorted. "Please, Derek. I've had my suspicions for a long time. This isn't news."

Derek's mouth dropped open in shock. "...how...?"

"You're not very subtle sometimes, Derek. Sam's only giving me the concrete proof I've been waiting for," she explained, then flashed Sam a wide smile. "Thanks, Sam." Sam grinned back, nodding his welcome.

"Great!" Derek groaned and turned to hit his head on the locker nearby. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid," he kept reciting each time his head hit the locker. Why hadn't anyone told him he was being so obvious? What if he was so obvious last night that Casey found out and that was why she hadn't been speaking to him?

Emily rolled her eyes. She took Derek's shoulders and forced him to stop his foolish act and face her. "Relax," she commanded, "Casey is clueless and completely oblivious to your major crush on her."

Derek felt reasonably better with that information, but only slightly. "Emily, you have to promise to not tell Casey." Derek clasped his hands together, pleading to her. If he needed, he'd gladly get on his knees.

"I won't," Emily promised. "But only if you tell me exactly what happened last night. Casey only told me bits, but I can tell she didn't tell me everything because she was acting weirder than her usual Casey weirdness."

"Well...?" Emily pressed when Derek remained quiet.

Derek sighed, but decided he might as well.

"Uh...I don't know," Derek began, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he tried to think of what to say. "I came home from practice. Casey heated me up some food..." He quickly glanced at his neighbor only to see her nodding him encouragingly along. "Did she tell you that I made a stupid 'kiss' comment?"

Emily's eyes seemed to pop out like the ones in cartoons. "What 'kiss' comment?!" she half-whispered excitedly.

Derek mentally scolded himself. Of course Casey wouldn't have said anything about that. She probably didn't even tell Emily about the moment where they almost kissed. Casey either didn't realize that Derek was a moment away from kissing her or she was so despised of the idea that she refused to acknowledge it happened; Derek believed the latter was more believable.

"I – well Casey gave me my dinner and...I sorta said 'I could kiss you right now' –" Derek was cut off by a piercing squeal from Emily. Derek and Sam covered their ears, as well as some of the bystanders close enough. The rest of the hall shot Emily curious stares.

"Emily!" Derek shouted, shooting her a wild glare.

Emily quickly covered her mouth and mumbled an apology. "This is just too good! How did Casey react?"

"She just got quiet. It was awkward for awhile."

"And then you eventually taught her about hockey?" Emily questioned. Derek nodded. "Anything else happen between you two last night?"

"Nope," Derek answered, plopping the 'p'. If Emily's reaction to a comment about a kiss was bad, Derek never wanted to witness what would happen if she found out he and Casey were close to actually kissing.

"Oh, I don't know about that..." Sam commented, smirking. Derek's eyes widened as he turned to his best friend, beseeching with his eyes for Sam not to tell Emily anything more.

Emily also turned to Sam. "What? What happened? Please, Sam, _please_! Tell me!" she frantically asked.

"Sam!" Derek growled, his tone a clear warning.

Apparently the warning wasn't clear enough for Sam though because he continued. "Derek almost kissed Casey."

Derek immediately covered his ears to prevent the slaughter to his eardrums, but this time (of course) Emily hadn't made a sound. She merely stood in her place, mouth agape and eyes wide open; she looked like a little kid who just got handed every present they wanted for Christmas.

Derek slowly removed his hands from his ears and waved them both in front of Emily's face to break her out of whatever trace she was in. "Emily?"

Emily snapped out it, quickly grabbing both of Derek's hands as she jumped up and down in excitement, squealing, again. Derek groaned, ripping his hands from his neighbors'. He wanted to hide; he looked at his locker, contemplating if he'd even fit. He made to leave next, but Sam grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him back in place.

"Well," Emily spoke after her squeal fest, "why didn't you kiss her!?"

"We heard the buzzer go off on the TV and it broke us out of whatever thing we were in..." Derek hurriedly explained; he hated talking about this stuff. Why'd he agree to tell Emily all of this? Oh, right, she might tell Casey his feelings if he didn't. "You can't let her know that I told you this though! If I'm lucky, she might not have realized it..."

"Fine, fine. Take out all my fun," Emily quipped sadly, but she was still somehow beaming from the news.

It then dawned on Derek that maybe Emily not only knew _his_ feelings for Casey, but _Casey's_ feelings towards him as well. "Hey, you know, your Casey's best friend, right? And Casey tells you things...?"

"Where are you going with this, Derek?" Emily asked dryly, hands on her hips.

Derek gulped, suddenly queasy. What if he didn't like her answer? "Can you just tell me if Casey likes me back or not?"

"Oh, Derek," Emily started, her face crumbled and sympathy laced her words. "I can't do that. That's totally breaking the girl code, not to mention betraying my best friend's trust. An absolute no no."

"Here that, Sam," Derek pointedly grumbled. Sam smiled innocently like he had done nothing of the sort minutes before.

"Sorry, Derek," Emily apologized. She squeezed his shoulder affectionately, as if the notion was supposed to make him feel better. It didn't. "Don't give up though," she said as she departed, leaving Derek somewhat optimistic.

...

Derek walked towards the cafeteria fully intending to talk to Casey right away. He couldn't stand another minute without talking to her. He needed to understand where her head was and whether he could get things back to normal – at least their normal as of yesterday.

As he reached the cafeteria doors, he scoped out Casey's lunch table and found her sitting alone, setting out her meal. Derek strode over to her, trying hard not to think of the possible, pessimistic outcomes that might occur. He picked up his pace slightly; he didn't want enough time to chicken out.

When he reached the end of the table, he cleared his throat to gain his step-sister's attention.

She looked up at him, surprised. "Hi," she greeted quietly.

"Is this seat taken?" Derek asked, gesturing with his hand to the seat across from Casey.

"You want to eat here again?" Casey questioned dubiously.

Derek cracked a grin as he took the seat. "Well, I've been eating here all week. Might as well stick to the pattern, eh?"

"I guess," Casey replied. She dipped her head downward as she stabbed her salad with her fork, which consequently caused some of her hair to curtain her face. But even so, Derek swore he saw her smile softly.

However, her head remained low, continuing to look at her food and not him. Derek internally groaned. "Did I do something wrong, Case?"

Her head shot up. "No!" she insisted. "Why would you think that?"

"We haven't said a word to each other since last night. You seem like you don't even want to look at me.. Did I do something to make you made or...?"

"No...I'm just...I don't know. It's not you it's -"

"Don't seriously tell me you were about to feed me the 'it's not you it's me' line." Derek chuckled. "I think you can get a little more original than _that_ , Spacey!"

Casey rolled her eyes, but laughed along as well. "Sorry...I, I don't know. It's complicated. I've just been in my own head all day...I wasn't avoiding you or anything."

Derek felt a weight on his chest suddenly lift. He smirked. "Good. So, I guess that means we'll watch hockey when I come home tonight like last night?"

Casey's eyes bulged. "We will?" she squeaked.

Derek nodded. "You wanted to learn hockey," he pointed out. "One session isn't going to cut it. It's like with your studying thing. You don't just read your notes once, right?"

"Right..." Casey agreed slowly. Derek couldn't tell whether she was gradually growing to the idea or at least saw enough sense in his statement to agree. Nevertheless, he was excited that they'd be spending some more time together tonight, though Derek vowed to try to avoid making any non-friendly moves on Casey this time. It seemed to have caused a Casey freakout, if the awkwardness from last night to now meant anything. Derek realized if Casey did have any non-brotherly/friendly feelings for him, she'd have to take the first step. He wasn't going to jeopardize this good thing between them right now, even though he wanted a lot more.

"So, are we cool?" Derek asked, sticking out his hand for her to shake if she agreed.

Casey peered at his outstretched hand for a moment, before directing her gaze directly into his eyes. His heart lurched at the sudden eye-contact. "We're cool," she smiled shyly, shaking his hand lightly.

Derek smiled genuinely back, however it quickly turned cheeky. "Now, do you have money I can borrow because I forgot my lunch this morning..."

Casey bit the inside of her cheek to try and prevent herself from smiling, but despite herself, a laugh escaped her lips. She comically rolled her eyes as she handed him enough money to get lunch. "Same ol' Derek."

He chuckled as he took the money from his step-sister's hands. "You know you wouldn't want it any other way," he teased, winking at her as he got up from the table to join the lunch line.

"Probably not," he heard Casey murmur, most likely when she thought he was too far to hear. Derek beamed. Maybe he had a shot after all.


	8. Chapter 8

When Derek came back to the table, lunch in hand, Emily had just arrived too – a fact that Casey was rather happy about, since that meant she wouldn't have to deal with either of them alone. With Emily, she knew her best friend was dying for more details about last night with Derek; she wouldn't dare bring that up in-front of him. With Derek, things were still just too awkward between them, even though that seemed to be more her fault rather than his; at least with Emily there they had a buffer.

"Thanks for paying, Case," Derek spoke with a grateful grin. He placed his lunch tray down on the table, but remained standing as he fished for something in his front jean pocket. Finally, he picked out a couple coins and crumpled dollar bills and placed them on her side of the table. "And there's the change," he pointed out, then sat down in the seat he occupied from earlier.

Casey looked at the money then at Derek appreciatively. "You're welcome, Derek," she managed. She was still feeling a tad shy around Derek, with last night so fresh and alive in her memory. Thinking about their proximity was enough to make her blush all over.

"You bought Derek lunch?" Emily questioned, quirking the right side of her mouth upwards, glimpsing knowingly at Casey.

"If I hadn't then I wouldn't have had lunch for myself," Casey replied.

Derek exaggeratedly scoffed. "Are you implying that I would have stolen your lunch?" Derek asked, feigning offense. "I mean, come on! We're being nice to each other now. I would have at least shared," he continued, smirking, "...some..."

Casey couldn't help it, she burst out laughing, which must have been contagious since both Emily and Derek joined in on the laughter soon after.

"What's got you all laughing, amigos?" Ralph wondered aloud, standing at the end of the table with Sam beside him.

"Nothing, man," Derek answered as his laughter subsided. "Sit down, guys," he insisted, motioning to the empty seats at the table. Both nodding, Ralph took the seat next to Derek, while Sam took the seat next to Emily.

Ralph and Derek seemed to immediately start talking about something sports related. Casey had quickly grown accustomed to this chatter since Derek and his friends began eating lunch with them. However, Casey raised her eyebrow in confusion when she didn't hear Sam's voice eventually join the discussion like usual. When Casey curiously looked over, Sam was instead speaking to Emily in hushed tones.

Sam must have felt eyes on him because promptly Casey's eyes were locked with Sam's. Casey gave him a mannerly smile to not feel so rude for staring. But instead of merely smiling back like she was expecting, Sam shot Casey an expression that reminded her of the faces Emily had been giving her all day – a knowing look with a dash of smugness.

"So, Casey, Derek told me how you're trying to learn hockey," Sam commented, smiling friendly towards her, but still looking at her like he knew something that she didn't even know. A shiver traveled down her spine at the thought.

Casey glanced over at Derek, who had just ripped himself from his conversation with Ralph at Sam's remark. He matched Casey's gaze for a short moment before setting a hard glare at Sam. For some reason Casey was starting to feel nauseous. She turned back to Sam, stuttering, "Y-yeah."

"Cool," Sam expressed lightly. "Knowing you, you'll pick up everything quick. Then you can kiss Derek goodbye!"

All she heard was 'kiss' and 'Derek'. Casey blanched. Sam couldn't possibly know anything, right? The queasy feeling in her stomach went up tenfold. She swiftly stood to her feet. "I'm not feeling so well. I think I'm just going to go to the nurse," she told her table as she gathered up her belongings.

Derek stood up too, looking at her concerned. "Let me come with you."

"No!" she hollered, then realized her outburst was a little uncalled for, so she lowered her voice, "No, don't worry. Just-just eat your lunch. I'll be fine."

Derek looked at her unconvincingly. "You sure?"

"Yes, Derek," she replied, turning on her heel to make her way to the exit before he could protest anymore.

…...

Casey really needed to stop freaking out so much. Particularly when the subjects of kissing and Derek intertwined. Again, she had taken a common expression so literally. She felt like such a fool. Sam obviously didn't mean she would actually kiss Derek goodbye, just like Derek didn't mean it when he said he could kiss her. At least, she thought so.

Casey heavily sighed. Thinking usually was her strong suit, but when things happened that lead her to over-think, she really wished she could shut off her brain – like now. Because even though she _thought_ Derek might have been close to kissing her last night, it doesn't mean that's what he was going to do – though she couldn't think of another explanation as to why he was looking at her like he was. Regardless, she shouldn't assume. And Derek seemed pretty nonchalant today, so obviously he wasn't worried about it – if there was an 'it' to be worried about.

Oddly enough, it wasn't the fact that Derek might have kissed her that was freaking her out, but the aspect that she didn't care if he did.

She gave it a lot of thought the previous night as she tossed and turned in her bed, sleep far from overcoming her. As she replayed his glimmering eyes staring right into her own, remembering the slight magnetic field they seemed to have attached to them, she started adding her own endings. Sometimes Casey would whisper Derek's name, so soft that I'd quickly evaporate from the room as soon as she spoke it, and Derek would shush her lightly before pecking her tentatively on the mouth. Other times she'd bulk up the courage to reach out and tangle her hand in his hair, feeling it's texture as her fingers rounded to the nape of his neck, and Derek would turn his head slightly to bring his smooth lips to her wrist, never breaking their eye-contact for a moment, which would drive Casey to grab Derek by his neck and bring him down to kiss her. And then sometimes she'd skip her usual romantic versions and rely purely on her hormones, where seemingly simultaneously they'd lunge at each other and his lips would just be on hers and hers would just be on his and hands would be gliding and tugging and feeling everything they could reach. Casey only realized right before she drifted off to sleep that she had kissed Derek in _every single scenario_.

Speed-walking past the nurse, Casey continued her trek down the hall until she reached Paul's office. She knocked frantically on Paul's door, fidgeting in place as she waited for an answer on the other side. However, impatient and panicked, she soon barged right in without proper acceptance.

Paul opened his mouth to greet the girl, but Casey was already speaking, very rapidly at that. "Just because you think something is going to happen doesn't mean it that is what was going to happen, right? Especially since the person it was going to happen with would never do _that_ with you! But what if they were, what does that mean? Does it even mean anything? Was I imagining it? No, no I couldn't have...But he didn't bring it up or seemed bothered, but -"

"Casey!" Paul hollered to break her out of seemingly endless rant. Casey instantly closed her mouth, embarrassed by her behavior.

Realizing he had Casey's attention now, Paul started. "Now, take a seat and breathe." Casey did as she was told. "Okay, now start over, but this time _slowly,_ and elaborate, please."

Nodding at Paul's further instructions, Casey took a deep breath before beginning."Just because you think something might have happened, doesn't mean it would have, right?" Casey questioned again.

Paul leaned his elbows on his desk as he interlaced his fingers together. "Well, sometimes yes, sometimes no," he answered thoughtfully. "What is this 'thing' that you thought might have happened?"

Casey looked down at her hands, which were politely laid in her lap now. She chewed her lip, trying to figure out how to describe the situation to Paul without going into too much detail, such as who else was involved...

"Last night I was...hanging out with this guy...and I thought he was going to kiss me – but that can't be possible!" Casey told, quickly interjecting her own sentence with her doubtful thoughts.

"And why can't that be possible?" Paul calmly asked.

Casey quietly groaned in frustration. "Because – because we don't like each other like that! He's constantly teasing me and making fun of me. I'd go as far to say we despise each other! "

"Are you sure about that?"

Casey rose her head to look at her counselor's face. "What do you mean?" she hesitantly asked.

"Well," Paul started, "if you really don't like each other, why were you hanging out with him to begin with? Or were you with a group of friends and he happened to be there?"

"No, we were alone," Casey murmured. "But it was just something that happened. I didn't plan on spending time with him last night. He was just there and..." Casey trailed off, not knowing what else to say – at least without giving away the fact that she was talking about Derek. Of course he was _there_. It was both their house for goodness sake.

"But again, if you despised each other as much as you claim..." he spoke, trailing off.

"Okay, so maybe we don't hate each other as much as we claim, but we definitely don't like each other enough to kiss!" Casey relented.

Paul hummed in thought as he gazed at Casey carefully. The silence, or rather the hum of Paul's computer and the ticking of the clock, were slowly pushing Casey to a point of explosion, nerving her further.

Finally, Paul opened his mouth to speak again. "Why do you think this boy – who you say doesn't like you this way in the slightest – kiss you then?"

"That's what I don't understand!" Casey exclaimed, throwing her hands up in defeat before burying her face in them. She was trying to will herself not to cry from all the distress. "We were just sitting next to each other, talking, when everything just seemed to go still and silent. He was looking at me very intensely and in the back of my mind, all I could think was that he was going to kiss me. But he didn't. Something got us distracted before anything could happen...if anything _was_ going to happen..."

Paul nodded his head, letting the new information from the situation sink in his head. "Usually our gut feelings are ring true..."

"But why would _he_ want to kiss _me_? I mean, sure, I've been acting nicer to him and he's been acting nicer to me lately, but that wouldn't warrant a kiss..." Casey thought aloud, rambling a bit.

"Why were you being nicer to him?" Paul curiously asked.

"My friend, Emily, told me I couldn't be nice to him, so we set up a challenge for me to do just that," Casey clarified for Paul. "I don't know why he's being nicer to me though. At first he was being nastier than usual, but then the next day, out of the blue, it was like he transformed into Mister Rogers..."

Paul fumbled over a chuckle at the Mister Rogers reference, but managed to keep his face somewhat neutral as he spoke next. "Maybe at first this boy only thought he could achieve your attention by doing negative things because you thought of him so negatively. But when you started acting nicer to him, he decided to start doing more positive things for you. Understand?"

Casey scrunched up her face, turning over the thought in her mind. "So, he's basically treating me how I treat him?"

"Might be," Paul answered with a shrug. "We should treat others as how we wished to be treated."

Casey nodded. That did make sense, however she was still perplexed. "But that still doesn't explain the almost-kiss," Casey pushed. She was determined to figure that factor out.

"Casey," Paul said, lightly but fixedly, "did you ever think that this boy might like you?" Casey's mouth opened to rebut, but Paul raised a hand to stop her as he continued to talk. "You said yourself that he teases you and makes fun of you, but those are perfect examples of what some boys do to the girls they like – It might be a bit elementary, but it's still something some individuals revert to."

Casey sat in a stupor. Could Derek possibly like her, like _really_ like her? The idea just didn't seem fathomable. Besides recently, especially last night, had Derek ever shown signs that he thought of her that way? That's when Casey started thinking back to a lot of the things he had done for her over the years, although she always seemed blind to them until now because of the stunt he either pulled before or after such incidents happened. But couldn't have he just been looking out for family?

"Casey?" Paul queried, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Maybe," she softly whispered, finally answering Paul's last question to her. She was still very much doubtful, but now at least she had something to work off of when she saw Derek next.

Thinking their session for today was over, Casey began getting up from her seat.

"And what about you?" Paul suddenly asked.

Casey abruptly sat back down, floored by the question. "What about me?" she asked, though her voice sounded strangled, like she had a hard time forcing the words out.

"How do you feel about all of this? Do you like this boy?"

Casey immediately went to answer, but found that she was left speechless. Sure, she had been developing scenarios the previous night where she kissed Derek, but she never stopped to think _why_ she was. And she was so obsessed over why Derek might have kiss her in the first place, that she never thought to think why she would have let him if he did. _Did_ she like Derek?

"I-I don't know..." Casey let out. Her mind was reeling from the possible revelation. "I didn't think I did...but now...I can't just suddenly like someone so soon can I? Just a few days ago I thought he was an obnoxious pig, who I wouldn't want to share the same country with let alone a couch!"

Paul chuckled, but at Casey's pointed glare, the laugh was vacuumed right back up into his mouth. "Some people can develop feelings for others very quickly, while others take more time," he reasoned. "Or this could be something you have been subconsciously denying yourself and was only forced to realize it now because of the change in circumstances..."

Casey sighed dejectedly. She began to rub the temples of her head as a massive headache was brewing underneath from all these crazy projections.

She started reflecting back on fragments of memories that were blowing by her eyes, like autumn leaves in the wind. Surprisingly, most of these memories were good ones of Derek, rather than the ones that made her want to shove him in a box and ship him to Timbuktu. Casey soon realized that she found Derek to be quite endearing many times, especially around his Smarti; that he left in her awe too many times to count; that although he always swore off any affiliation with her, he was always right by her side, especially when she needed him the most. She thought back at certain glances and fights – that at the time she shrugged off as nothing – and now saw them in a whole new light.

But she couldn't possibly like Derek, right? And Derek couldn't like her? It was just too bizarre to think about. But maybe Emily's crazy accusations weren't so crazy after-all...

She refocused her dazed expression and looked at Paul. "I think we're good for today, Paul. Thanks for all the help," she told him appreciatively.

She got up from her seat and went back out into the hall. Just then the bell rang and a flood of students swamped the hallways, not that Casey noticed too much. Her mind was still figuratively in Paul's office, nitpicking through memories of her and Derek from the last couple years, trying to make sense of some of them with a new sense of insight.

Part of her was willing to accept that she might have a small crush on her step-brother, while the other part was claiming her a looney for even suggesting it. Her main concern, though, was if Derek actually liked her like that. Emily was hinting at it earlier this morning, and even Paul (even though he didn't know it was Derek she was talking about). But why would someone, like Derek, – who could have any girl in the school – be interest in her? His geeky, neurotic step-sister. It just didn't add up, even though there were loads of evidence to the contrary when she could think of them. The whole scenario seemed very paradoxical.

"You okay?" she heard a voice say behind her. She jumped at the unexpectedness of it, but when she saw it was Emily, Casey's smiled.

"Yeah," Casey spoke distractedly, walking along side her best friend as they strolled down the hallway to their lockers. "I'm feeling a lot better now."

"Good, 'cause you had me worried there for a second," Emily expressed, stopping with her at Casey's locker and waiting for her as she obtained her next class' books. "So, I'm guessing you talked to Paul, since that was the door you came out of?"

"Yes," Casey answered as she stacked her materials for chemistry in her arms.

"What did you talk about?" Emily asked innocently.

Thinking back to Paul and her's conversation again, Casey couldn't help but glance over towards Derek's locker. He was there and he was already looking at her with an expression of worry. "You okay?" she then saw him mouth to her. She could only briefly nod to answer as her stomach erupted in butterflies at his concern.

"Or should I ask _who_?" Casey heard Emily say, a sense of knowing lacing over her words. Casey quickly ripped her eyes from Derek's form to turn to her friend in panic. She didn't want Emily to get the wrong idea. Sure, maybe what Emily was instigating earlier held some truths, but until Casey knew for sure about how she felt, and most importantly how Derek felt, she didn't want to encourage her.

Unfortunately, the drastic move caused her to clumsily drop all the books to the ground.

Casey groaned as she bent down to get the fallen books, mumbling miserably under her breathe. Klutzilla was already making an appearance. However, she stopped mid-way down when she realized Derek was standing in-front of her. She looked down at his hands to see her books stacked neatly on top of the other.

"Thanks, Derek," Casey said softly, reaching for the books, but Derek swatted her hands away playfully.

"Let me hold them and I'll walk you to class," he offered. Casey was surprised to see Derek displaying a shy smile, as if he was scared she'd turn down his proposition. The face only made him look like a cute puppy dog. Casey bit her lip, thinking that this was definitely something a guy would do for a girl he liked.

Casey then mentally shook herself out of her analyzing thoughts."I'd love that," she answered honestly, which earned her a beaming smile from Derek, as well as a small squeal from Emily in the distant background as they walked towards Casey's class.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

Derek pulled into the driveway, immediately turning the ignition off after he parked. It wasn't too late, but the sun was already down for the day, considering it was winter.

Derek continued to sit silently in the darkness of the Prince, letting his head lean back onto the headrest and his eyes flickered close. His body was aching all over, worse than the day before, and he didn't have the energy to get out just yet.

He decided to use this moment of calmness and tranquility to think the day over. Especially how Casey considerably warmed up to him within the span of the school day. Derek had thought he screwed up any budding friendship he was making with Casey because of his damn hormones. And he thought for sure that when Casey fled from the lunchroom after Sam's comment that everything was beyond repairable. Fortunately, however, Casey was able to get over whatever was bothering her. She was much more open and friendly towards him after lunch. He was very curious as to why, but he wasn't going to press it.

A prolonged yawn made its way through Derek's mouth. Derek felt tired enough to sleep right then and there, despite the location and chilly weather slowly snatching the heat from the car. A few days ago he would have let himself snooze for a few minutes, but tonight he couldn't. It was nearly seven o'clock and the hockey game he told Casey he was going to watch with her was going to be on soon. This was one of the very _very_ rare times that she would probably willingly spend time with him and he would be a fool to miss the opportunity.

With that in thought, Derek opened the car door and sluggishly stepped out into the crisp, Canadian air. The sudden gust of coldness that slapped up against him momentarily numbed his afflicted body and he let out a small sigh of relief.

His eyes then immediately glared at the trunk where his hockey bag and gear were, dreading the energy he would have to exert in order to retrieve it and lug it inside. Derek took a second to internally think about it, but eventually decided to abandon his possessions until the next day, so his muscles could relax and he could get out of the cold weather, and to see Casey quicker.

Opening up the house door, Derek was greeted by an empty living room. Though, the television was blaring pre-game talk, so someone had to be around. "Hello?" Derek called out to the house as he shut the front-door firmly behind him and hung up his leather jacket on the coat rack.

Casey stuck her head out of one of the kitchen doors, a broad smile spread nicely across her pretty face. Even from his distance Derek could see the glitter her lip-gloss left on her lips and the blissful sparkle flickering in her eyes. Derek's stomach clenched pleasantly at the sight. His mind vaguely thought of days in the far future that featured him coming home after work to a similar sight.

"Hey," she greeted softly, "I was just heating up some dinner for you..." she said, then disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, only to reappear seconds later with the aforementioned meal in her hand. Casey began walking towards Derek to hand him the plate and he started to walk towards her to retrieve it.

Derek got as far as his chair when he saw Casey's foot get caught underneath the dining room rug. She propelled forward, doomed to fall hazardously, but luckily Derek was able to grab her around the waist, thus avoiding any disastrous outcomes.

She fell heavily against Derek's chest, leaving him winded for a second, but glad that miraculously nothing was dropped, sprained or broken this time around. (Casey had somehow managed to maneuver the plate away from colliding with Derek or the ground.) Derek finally looked down at the girl in his arms and was left breathless as he realized their close vicinity. Their faces couldn't have been farther than a dozen centimeters apart.

"Sorry," Casey mumbled, her face flushing painfully red as she pulled herself away from his chest, dipping her head down to try and hide her embarrassment. Derek half wished he could tell her that her blush was adorable, but he felt that no matter how nice they were being to each other, that that particular action would be crossing a line he shouldn't cross, at least yet.

"No harm, no foul," Derek said when she was back on her own two feet. He wanted to keep his responses short and sweet for the moment. He didn't want to accidentally blurt out idiotic things like the night before. However, in his head, he was wondering, and foolishly hoping, that the whole incident was a sign of her potential crush on him rather than her usual clumsy tendencies.

Needing something to do to fill in the heavy silence that hung, he took the plate from Casey's hands and placed it on the coffee table. Turning back, he gave her a reassuring smile in an effort to further placate her. Casey grimaced, still too embarrassed, and hurriedly told him that she had to get more things in the kitchen. With that, she rapidly turned on her heel and sped-walked to the kitchen.

Once she was fully out of the room, Derek let out a needed breath of air as he collapsed on to the couch. Even though Casey had only been his arms for mere seconds, it was enough to entrench the embrace in his mind. He could still feel her one hand clutching onto his shirt desperately as she tried to regain her balance and her hair tickling lightly against the hollow of his neck. Derek couldn't shake the feeling off of him if he tried – not that he entirely wanted to, though.

Derek let out another deep breath. He had to remain calm and collected. He had to keep his hormones in check. Casey wasn't a regular girl – at least the girls he usually went for. He couldn't just pull one of his moves and speak sugarcoated words to her. If the past day taught Derek anything it was that he needed to have patience. So, essentially, he wasn't going to make a move unless Casey initiated something.

Tonight, Derek only wanted to spend a nice evening watching hockey and eating snacks with Casey. He wanted Casey to be comfortable, and try to avoid the awkwardness and drama that accompanied the night before. And if the night went as smoothly as he was anticipating, Casey would realize she liked being in his company. Maybe she would like it enough to spend more time with him, willingly – aside when she was learning sports from him or helping the other out of scraps.

"I popped some popcorn again," Casey spoke, breaking Derek from his thoughts. She placed the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table next to his dinner. "And drinks," she further spoke, untucking the drinks from the crook of her arm, then showcasing the soda can that was undoubtedly for him and the water for her.

Giving her a grateful smile, Derek took the soda can from her. Casey nervously tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she smiled enjoyably back.

She opted to sit in the seat next to him on the couch, which caused Derek's eyebrows to shoot to his hairline in surprise. Not merely at the fact that she was sitting next to him, but the fact that they were sitting nearly as close as they were yesterday. He thought for sure Casey would be sitting as far as she could after what the proximity caused the night before, but he presumably guessed wrong.

Derek inwardly smiled, but quickly evened out any traces of jubilant glee to a neutral stance. He didn't want to think too much about it – to delusionally bring his hopes up. To distract himself, he reached for his food and began digging into his dinner.

"So who are the Leafs' opponent tonight?" Casey asked a few moments later as she stared at the screen, where two elderly broadcasters were still talking about key players and strategies.

Derek opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by someone bounding down the stairs and plopping into his recliner. "The Ottawa Senators!" the interloper answered for Derek.

"Thanks, Edwin," Casey said happily, flashing her younger step-brother an appreciative grin before turning back to the television.

Derek looked over at his brother with a belligerent glower. That smile was supposed to have been directed at _him_ , not his little brother. "Yeah. _Thanks, Edwin_."

The younger boy cocked his head to the side, while letting a signature Venturi smirk play loosely on his face. "No, problem, _bro_."

Derek clenched his teeth. He further glared at his brother, but soon turned away, hoping that if he didn't give Edwin any attention that the kid would soon bug off.

"Are the Leafs still in the blue?" Casey asked as the teams stepped on the ice, warming up.

Again, just as Derek opened his mouth, Edwin answered instead. "Yup. Usually when a team is playing in their home city, they wear the same color jersey. The Maple Leafs wear that blue. When they are away at someone else's city, they usually wear white."

Derek watched Casey nod her head to Edwin's explanation in understatement, but otherwise didn't acknowledge the boy's response. She was too concentrated on the TV in-front of her, which Derek found quite comical, especially since the game hadn't even started yet. He quietly laughed into his fist, shaking his head at her way-too-keener but somehow utterly adorable idiosyncrasies.

"What's so amusing?" she gently asked, nudging her side into his lightly. She peeked at him over her shoulder, waiting for him to respond.

Derek let out a few more chuckles. "Nothing, nothing. You're just so serious though..."

Casey seemed to immediately straighten her back, stiffening. "I-I wasn't trying to – I was just – I just want to know about hockey so –"

Derek slapped his hand over Casey's mouth, causing her to immediately hush her inane stuttering. She looked up at him with wide, curious eyes.

"Don't stress over it! I'm not going to give you a pop quiz at the end of the game," Derek teased, his laughter resuming. Casey took Derek's hand and gently guided it away from her mouth, all the while rolling her eyes.

"You're doing a great job already," Derek told her earnestly. "You'll learn in time, but if you force it, you won't enjoy it, which will make learning it harder," he continued gently, squeezing her hand for further reassurance.

It was that unconscious notion that made Derek realize that Casey's hand never let go of his when she moved it earlier, and that it was still loosely in his own. He looked down hesitantly, wanting proof that the sensation wasn't an evil illusion. It wasn't. He swallowed nervously as he rose his head to meet eyes with his step-sister. Her eyes were bug-eyed, but they did not stray from his gaze, nor did she retract her hand and scream bloody murder.

" _Ahem!_ "

Derek and Casey both whipped their heads towards where the sudden noise came from, unfastening their hands away from each other in the process.

"Sorry," Edwin sheepishly apologized when he noticed he gained the attention of the two older teenagers. "My throat is just a little hoarse..."

"Then why don't you get yourself something to drink in the kitchen," Derek suggested through gritted teeth. Admittedly, Derek had forgotten Edwin was still there, but now that he was reminded, he wanted him out.

"Nahh," Edwin dismissed, waving his hand at the idea. "I think I'm fine."

Derek lightly groaned. "Don't you have homework to do or something?" Derek asked, his annoyance reaching to the point that it dipped deeply into his words.

"Nope!" the younger kid replied simply, smiling cheekily.

The older Venturi was fed up. Derek was never going to be able to enjoy this night if Edwin was interrupting everything. Grabbing his empty dinner plate, Derek stood up from his seat.

Casey immediately began to ask where Derek was going, but he promptly intercepted it. "I'll be _right_ back," Derek assured Casey, gesturing to the dirty dish in his hand. Casey swallowed down the rest of her sentence and gave him an encouraging smile – probably because it looked like he was being responsible for once.

Derek slowly rounded the couch, waiting for Casey to focus her attention back to the game. When she did, Derek quickly snatched at Edwin's shirt collar and lugged the lanky boy with him into the kitchen.

"Yoww!" Edwin exclaimed, once they both were safely in the perimeters of the kitchen. "That was kinda my neck! The only one I have!"

"Yeah, well if you don't want it snapped in half, you better cut it out!" Derek harshly whispered, trying to keep this conversation as low key as possible, especially since he wasn't certain what ears could be listening or not.

Edwin smiled smugly. "Cut _what_ out?"

Derek sighed. "Just leave me and Casey alone. I'm trying to teach her hockey." To give himself a distraction, he then walked over to the sink to place his plate into it.

"But two heads are better than one," Edwin pointed out.

Derek turned around, leaning his back against the counter. He crossed his arms and glared at his brother. "Did she ask _you_ to teach her hockey? No. She asked me. She doesn't want your help. Plus, I've been the one playing since I was 3. You? You know everything from what _I_ taught you."

Ignoring everything Derek just said, Edwin's eyes lightened up in such a mischievous fashion that it made Derek's blood want to both boil in wrath and freeze in fright.

"Ooh, I get it," Edwin knowingly spoke, his tone tottering towards teasing. "You just want some... _alone_ time." And then the boy had the audacity to wink at his older brother.

Derek shifted slightly, but hardened his glare at his brother. " _Edwin_ ," he breathed out warningly.

"50 bucks," Edwin said, holding out a hand towards Derek. The older of the two only cast the younger a look of confusion. "Give me 50 bucks and I'll get out of your hair," Edwin clarified.

"No way!" Derek scoffed, pushing his brother's hand down. "Why should _I_ pay _you_ anything?"

"Maybe because I could easily tell Casey that you're _in love_ with her..."

"I'm not!" Derek insisted, taking a threatening step closer to Edwin.

Although Edwin stepped back to put space in-between his brother and himself, he seemed unfazed by Derek's tone and stature. This was something that left Derek perplexed, since this was usually when Edwin would start graveling in fear, begging for forgiveness. However, the boy looked too amused with the situation to be doing that now.

"Just give me money and I'll leave," Edwin promised. "And I won't tell Casey anything that may or may not be true..."

"It's not true," Derek glumly spoke, but nevertheless reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

"Nice doing business with you,"Edwin rejoiced, gladly snatching the money from his brother's wallet and darting to the back door. "By the way, you should blush more often, it gives you a nice glow," he taunted, before sprinting out of the house.

"EDWIN!" Derek hollered, his feet subconsciously running to the door in pursuit of Edwin. Though when he peered outside and couldn't even see a spec of Edwin anywhere, Derek figured the chase was useless. The brat was probably hiding out somewhere that would take Derek ages to find anyway. Also, he didn't want Casey to wait any longer.

Blowing out a breath of air in order to relieve a bit of his Edwin-related stress, Derek sauntered back into the living room and sat back down in his seat.

"Everything okay?" Casey questioned immediately as Derek took his seat. She must of heard some of the commotion.

"Perfect," he clipped. He grabbed the remote and turned up the volume, hoping his action would deter Casey from asking anything more.

It didn't.

"Where's Edwin?" she then asked, craning her neck to look back at the kitchen area.

"He went outside," Derek answered. "Actually he went for a run..." An involuntary grin plastered across his face, but he knew enough to keep his laughter at bay. Casey shot him an odd look, but Derek only shrugged it off. "All I know is that he isn't in the house anymore." And that was all that Derek cared about. His 50 bucks better be well spent.

"So," Derek abruptly began, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "You have any hockey questions?"

…...

"That was slashing!" Casey hollered at the TV, but turned sharply to Derek. "Wasn't it?" she asked uncertainly.

Derek chuckled at the whiplash actions. "You're right," he assured her, nodding his head approvingly, clearly impressed with how fast she was learning everything.

She pouted confusingly. "Then why didn't they call a penalty?" she asked grimly.

The question was muffled to Derek's ears though as his eyes were focused in on her puckered bottom lip. Ooh, the things she did to him without even trying.

Noticing Derek's lack of feedback, she turned her head to face her step-brother. The sudden movement, broke Derek out of his daze and his eyes quickly diverted from her lips to the top portion of her face. "Did you...ask something?" he wondered sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Casey opened her mouth, ready to say something, but at the last minute stopped herself. She cleared her throat and shook her head. "Um...the slashing. Why didn't they call a penalty?"

"Oh, I'm guessing the referees didn't see it."

"But there's," Casey began, but paused to turn back to the TV. Derek could hear her briefly counting. "There's four referees! And none of them saw it?!"

"Well technically there's two referees. The other two, with the orange arm bands," Derek said, trying to point out one for Casey on the screen, "those guys are called linesmen. They generally only call the icing and offsides calls, or break up a fight. Stuff like that. But either way, no one sees a penalty, the penalty doesn't get called," Derek finished, shrugging.

Casey huffed as she sat back against the couch, crossing her arms. "Barbaric," she mumbled, her face turned down into a frown.

Derek rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile fondly at her actions. He nudged her with his shoulder. "There's no pouting during hockey," he commanded playfully, poking her side until her lips twitched into a faint smile.

Satisfied, Derek turned his attention back to the game. They watched in a comfortable silence.


	10. Chapter 10

Casey entered the kitchen the next morning feeling light and – dare she admit – slightly giddy. Last night, watching hockey with Derek, had been great, despite her almost-colossal fall when the evening first started.

The previous night Casey had tried to tap into her inner Edwin and Lizzie and observe Derek while they watched the game. She hoped to finally gain some tangible evidence to the idea that Derek liked her as Emily had been hinting. But for the life of her, she could not admit to herself that Derek liked her any more than as a step-sister. Sure, there was that moment where they held hands for a few seconds and he even threw her some of his oh-so-charming smiles and such, but Casey was not fully convinced.

Derek liking Casey was a hard concept to grasp. If he liked her so much, then why did he treat her like dirt up until a few days ago? Casey felt like she was reading too much into Derek's actions. For all Casey knew, this is what nice!Derek was like, nothing else.

Her spirit dampened at that possibility. Because, although she didn't get concrete enough evidence to prove Derek liked her, she had come to the dreaded realization that she indeed liked Derek. A lot. She sighed knowing that this new admission was not going to be easy to hide.

Seemingly, one by one everyone started filing into the kitchen, each bidding Casey a good morning before they scattered around the kitchen, getting what they wanted for their own breakfast. Since she wasn't alone anymore, Casey tried to force herself away from her thoughts and began to pour orange juice into a cup.

Soon after, Derek entered the kitchen, rubbing his tired eyes. Casey's heart stumbled over its next beat.

"Morning, Case," he sleepily slurred to her. He squeezed her shoulder kindly in greeting as he passed her on his way to the cereal cabinet.

"M-morning," she barely sputtered out.

"Casey! Your drink!" Lizzie shouted.

Casey immediately looked down only to notice her drink flowing over the edge of her cup and all over the counter. She immediately jumped up and turned around to get something to clean up the mess. However, that action only resulted in Casey bumping into Nora, which caused Nora to drop carton of eggs on the floor. Edwin then proceeded to slip and fall on the raw eggs, crashing into George, whose coffee then spilled all over his suit.

Casey covered her mouth in shock, whispering an apologetic sorry for the disaster she had just unintentionally caused.

"Jeez, Casey," Edwin muttered from the kitchen floor. "Warn a guy if we're currently in production for the Klutzilla sequel!"

Casey's eyes widened at what Edwin had just said, making her blush profoundly. She could hear Derek roaring with laughter over in the corner, but she couldn't look his way in fear of embarrassing herself further.

"Sorry!" she apologized again, before fleeing the room, and then the house all together.

…

"Casey?" Emily warily called out to her best friend, who was currently sitting solemnly in front her locker with her knees bent up to her chest.

"Hey, Em," she greeted back weakly, grimacing.

"What happened?" Emily questioned, knowing _something_ must have happened if she looked so depressed. "You look like someone took your day planner or something."

"Oh, it's so so so so so much worse than that," Casey replied. She then buried her hands in her face in shame.

Emily kneeled down next to her friend. "Casey," she said, trying to pry Casey's hands away from her face. "Why do you look so down?"

"I tripped last night, but then this morning it was the orange juice and the domino effect…" Casey mumbled against her hands miserably.

Emily scrunched her face up in puzzlement. "Casey, you not making any sense right now…"

"I like Derek!" Casey whimpered frantically.

"WHAT?!"

"I know," Casey bellowed, starting to get up from the floor. "I mean I-" But Casey was cut off by Emily's bright eyes and increasingly wide smile. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Emily took Casey's hands and jumped up and down excitedly, squealing at octaves much higher than Casey assumed were normal. "FINALLY!" Emily then hollered, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

Now it was Casey's turn to be confused. "Finally?"

"Oh, come on, Casey," Emily relented. "From the moment you moved in, it's been 'Derek this' and 'Derek that'."

"I am venting" Casey insisted, interrupting Emily. "If you had someone teasing you and pranking you daily, you would vent to me too!"

"I probably would," Emily calmly admitted. "But Casey, at first, yeah, you were just venting, but then…"

"Then what?" Casey quietly pressed.

"Well," Emily started then paused, trying hard to find the best way to word what she was about to say. "You – You would just keep talking about him, even if he hadn't done anything bothersome at the time. Everything would somehow make its way back to Derek, despite how completely unrelated he was to what we were talking about. Then when he was actually really nice towards you… _Casey_ …"

Casey groaned as she threw her face back into her hands. Had she really talked about Derek that much? But then she remembered her own self-imposed No-Derek-Talk rule with Max and the countless times she broke it, a day…

With that revelation, Casey groaned again.

"All I'm saying, Casey, is that you liking Derek doesn't surprise me," Emily spoke, breaking Casey from her thoughts. "But does finding out you like him really worth the freak-out you were just having?"

"I wasn't freaking out because I like Derek. I was freaking out because Klutzilla is apparently back _because_ I like Derek, and I'm making my crush on him completely obvious!" Casey sighed, before continuing. "Last night I almost fell and threw his dinner in his face. And then this morning I spilled my orange juice because he walked in the room, and then one thing led to another and everything was falling all over the place in the kitchen. It was terrible."

Emily rubbed Casey's back, knowing she needed some comfort. "It'll be alright, Casey. I'm sure Derek thought nothing of it. Boys can be quite dense."

"Well he at least thought it was funny," Casey pointed out bitterly. "He was cracking up and the mortification felt like falling on Corey Plunkett's butt all over again, except this time it was worse because Derek's the actual guy I'm clumsy over. Sam at least never laughed at me…"

Casey groaned some more. "And now he probably knows I like him and he's either going to shun me from his life or tease me for the rest of my life."

"Casey, if he figured it out, I doubt he'd do either of those things. What have I been trying to tell you these past couple days?" Emily said.

Casey scoffed. "I don't know why you think Derek likes me," Casey told her friend. "He's just keeping his part of our agreement and being nice to me."

"Casey…" Emily began, but when she saw Casey's eyes suddenly magnify to the size of saucers she stopped. Turning around, Emily saw Derek walking down the hallway.

"I can't face him," Casey said frantically. "Not yet! I gotta go!" And before Emily could say or do anything to stop her, she began speed walking the opposite way down the hallways.

…

"Casey!" Casey heard being yelled behind her. She knew who it was, obviously, but this only made her quicken her pace as best as she could.

"Case," the voice said again, but closer. This time the person attached to the voice was able to get ahold of one of her shoulders and spin her around to face them.

"Hey," Derek shortly greeted as he was panting from the running he did to catch up to her.

Casey dipped her head down, still embarrassed from breakfast. "Hey," she replied quietly.

"Where you off to in such a hurry?" he questioned, "Didn't you hear me calling you?"

"Sorry," Casey simply said, not wanting to lie or tell the truth.

"You left so quickly this morning that you forgot your lunch," Derek pointed out, holding up a small paper bag. "And oh, man! You should have seen it! After you left, Edwin kept slipping and he had egg all in his hair! So comical. It was like watching a live-action cartoon!" he continued, laughing at the memory.

Casey eye's thinned. "Thanks for the lunch," she said tightly, not exactly enjoying Derek's laughter. She then snatched the paper bag and turned away to walk down the hall again. She needed to cool off. This could very well turn into a full-blown fight and Casey was not going to lose her bet with Emily.

"Whoa! Where you going? What's wrong?" Derek asked, following right behind her.

Casey spun around quickly to face Derek, who almost walked right into her, but luckily was able to stop himself from a collision. "You _really_ want to know what's wrong?" Casey asked, her voice doubtful. It was weird to think Derek actually cared about her feelings towards something. Usually he was very detached from anything that wasn't hockey or boobs.

Derek raised his eyebrow. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to know," he replied, "Now, can you take a step down from the melodrama and tell me what's wrong?"

"You're laughing," she started, but abruptly stopped, "Can you just please not make fun of me about this morning's Klutzilla incident anymore? I'm mortified as it is."

"Case, I wasn't making fun of you, nor was I planning to. It was just an accident. A funny one," he said, smirking slightly, "but an accident."

Casey crossed her arms stubbornly. "You really weren't going to make fun of me?" she cautiously asked. She felt so childlike as he looked up at him from under her eyelashes.

"I really wasn't," Derek confirmed softly.

"And you weren't laughing at me?"

Derek laughed lightly. "Of course I was laughing at you, Princess. But not nearly as much as I was laughing at Edwin," he said truthfully, then chuckled some more. Casey sighed. Derek rolled his eyes at her theatrics.

"Case, I just can't turn off my laugh when I find something funny," he told her. "Admit it though, if I had caused that whole thing, you _so_ would have been laughing at me."

Casey tried to smother the smile that was dying to spread across her face. Derek smirked, noticing it.

"Plus," Derek said, speaking up again, "friends can laugh at their friends. You have probably laughed at Emily and vice versa. I know I laugh at Ralph, like, all the time so…" he trailed off when he noticed shocked expression form on Casey's face. "What?"

"Friends? Are you saying we're…?" Casey wondered out loud.

"Uh," Derek let out, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, I guess, kinda. We're not exactly ripping each other's throats out anymore and I never considered you family so…"

Casey couldn't help but finally let her smile break loose. If he saw her as a friend now, that meant she was progressing, right? "Friends," she said, her smile only growing wider as she tested out the word. "I guess that would best describe whatever _this_ is," she explained, biting her lip nervously.

Derek smirked playfully towards her. "Well, okay, _friend_. I guess I should walk you to your homeroom. We can't have you late, now can we?"

"No, we cannot," Casey mocked seriously, trying to sustain giggles from erupting, as well as the butterflies.


	11. Chapter 11

Sam and Derek had just emerged from the locker room showers, towels hanging around their waists as they walked to the row of lockers that contained their belongings. Once they reached their designated lockers, Derek quickly dialed in his combination and began hurriedly putting on his clothes.

"Dude, you running late for something?" Sam quipped, commenting on Derek's rapid dressing.

"Just want to get home ASAP," Derek admitted as he put a t-shirt over his head.

"You have another hockey tutoring 'date'?" Sam asked, smirking as he put air quotes around the word date.

Derek chuckled as he sat down on a bench and began to tie his shoe laces. "Maybe. We'll have to see."

Feeling eyes on him, Derek turned to his best friend only to find Sam looking at him with a goofy smile on his face. "What's with the dorky grin?" Derek questioned lightly.

"You mean the face you've been sporting all day?" Sam jibbed. Derek rolled his eyes, but he grinned, unable to help himself. "I'm just happy for you, man. Things seem to be going good for you with Casey right now. Aren't they?"

Derek shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant about this situation, but he knew that Sam could see right through it. "This morning I think we sorta became friends," Derek said.

Sam's face scrunched up in confusion as he pulled up his jeans. "Friends? Aren't you worried that you'd be stuck in the friend zone then?"

"Normally, yeah," Derek admitted as he stuffed some of his belongings in his gym bag, "but being seen as her friend is a hell of a lot better than being seen as her annoying step-brother. Plus, many relationships start between friends, no?"

Sam nodded his head, agreeing with Derek logic. "As long as you're cool with it."

"Plus," Derek stated brightly, drawling out the vowel, "Klutzilla is _so_ back! So really, it's only a matter of time before things escalade," Derek continued, wiggling his eyebrows.

…

Derek swiftly opened up the front door, ready to greet Casey as he had the past couple nights. However, Casey wasn't in the living room, but instead Edwin and Lizzie were.

Derek lifted a single eyebrow in confusion as he shrugged off his jacket and hockey bag. "Case in the kitchen?" he asked the duo, beginning to walk in that direction, already assuming she was.

"No, upstairs," Lizzie replied distractedly, as she was intently watching whatever the two were watching on the television.

Derek quickly changed directions to walk up the stairs, taking two at a time. Vaguely, Derek wondered why Casey was upstairs today, but thought maybe she was typing up an essay or was researching something on the internet – something of that keener nature.

Making it to the top of the stairs in record time, Derek mentally chastised himself for being so eager to see someone he saw merely hours before. He was acting like an overactive puppy that hadn't seen his master all day. Derek shook his head at the comparison and took a moment to compose himself before striding over to Casey's door.

"How much of a keener are you being now?" Derek teased lightly as he pushed opened her door, with a mischievous grin on his face that all too quickly faltered as he entered the room.

Noel and Casey were on her bed, huddled closely together, reading out of some book, seemingly laughing their asses off. Derek felt his stomach churn unpleasantly at the sight. It wasn't the worse thing he could have walk in on, but it still left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Oh, hey, Derek," Casey greeted warmly, taking her eyes off the book to acknowledge him.

"Hey," Derek let out breathlessly short. He then cleared his throat. "I-I didn't know Niall was coming over today."

Derek could hear Noel sigh in exasperation, but the poetry-loving geek didn't try to correct Derek this time. Derek smirked slightly at the small victory.

" _Noel_ ," Casey stressed, correcting her partner's name for him, "is here so we can work on our English project some more. Now, did you need something, Derek?"

Yes, he did. He wanted her. Downstairs. Watching hockey with him. If she suddenly decided to profess her love to him during intermission and make out, he'd have no objections to that either.

But obviously he couldn't tell her any of that, especially not with Noel there. Derek crossed his arms. "As a matter of fact, I was just wondering where my food was today, woman," Derek replied in a jocular manner. "I come home after a hard day of practice with no hot meal waiting for me? Blasphemy!"

Casey snorted, but smiled, knowing he was only joking around. "Well since Noel came to dinner there really wasn't any leftovers left…" Casey reluctantly told him. "Do you want me to make you something?" she kindly offered.

Derek shook his head, though the thought of Casey's cooking sounded really good at the moment. "It's okay," he assured her. "I'll just make a sandwich or something. Just get your work done." _So Noel can leave._

Casey smiled gratefully. Derek tried to smile back, but it must have looked more like a grimace, since Casey suddenly looked concerned.

"Derek, are you okay?" she inquired, getting up from the bed to walk over to him.

"Great!" Derek lied, forcing himself to smile wider as he backed out of the room. "I'll just leave you two kids to your project now," he finished, winking at the pair for good measure, before turning away to head back downstairs.

Although, once his face was turned away from Casey, his smile dropped to a scowl. Oh, how he loathed Noel. What kind of name was Noel anyway?

Derek huffed and sulked down the stairs and into the kitchen. He purposely ignored the looks Edwin and Lizzie were both giving him. He didn't need people pointing out that he was pissed. He very well _knew_ he was.

Derek quickly threw together a sandwich with a variety of lunchmeat, all the while cursing Noel for eating his portion of dinner, and not to mention taking away his hopeful one-on-one Casey time.

Brooding back to the living room, Derek settled down in his recliner. "Edwin! Remote!"

"But we're watching something…" Edwin whined.

"Don't care," Derek said simply, snapping his fingers impatiently as he waited for his brother to hand him the device.

"We don't need to listen to you!" Lizzie proclaimed bravely, sticking up for Edwin and herself, "especially because you're grumpy and jealous!"

Seeing red, Derek quickly stood from his seat. His brown eyes darkened and intensified as his jaw clenched. Edwin, noticing just how furious Derek was, quickly grabbed Lizzie's wrist and dragged her up the stairs. Edwin knew better than to mess with Derek when he was in this type of mood.

Watching the two scurry off, Derek sighed. He could already feel his anger deflate and diffuse. He just didn't have the capacity to have patience with the tweens right now, especially with feeling so tired from practice and so frustrated about the whole Noel/Casey situation.

He shook his head and dropped listlessly onto the couch. He grabbed the forgotten remote and changed the channel to the hockey game playing. He almost wanted to shut it off, knowing it was only going to remind him of Casey and the reason why she wasn't down there watching with him, but nothing else was on. It was either hockey or _Degrassi_ – and Derek felt like he had enough drama of his own to deal with at the moment.

Yawning as he scarfed down his sandwich, Derek even considered heading to bed early. God knew just how tired he was with all the gruesome practices the coach held this past week. His whole body seemed to readily agree with the sleep option, but, although tempting, Derek knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep knowing that Noel was with Casey a thin wall away.

Derek pouted. Now Noel was even depriving him of his sleep!

…

It was the beginning of the 2nd period when the duo finally came laughing down the stairs. Derek rolled his eyes, finding it hard to understand what they were laughing over. They were doing schoolwork for crying out loud!

Courteously, Casey walked Noel over to the front-door. Noel immediately grabbed his coat and put it on, but didn't make a move to leave just yet. They stayed huddled in the foyer, instead, talking about something lightly. Derek tried to inconspicuously lower the volume so he could hear the conversation better.

"I'm just glad we were able to finish the project today," Derek heard Noel tell Casey. Derek internally cheered. That meant no more Noel coming into his home to steal his food, Casey time, and sleep.

"Yes, me too!" Casey agreed happily. "Now we can rest easy for the next two weeks, and don't have to worry about it."

Derek snorted slightly to himself. Only Casey, and presumably Noel, would finish a project so ahead of the due date.

Noel smiled, but seemed suddenly put out. "I will miss getting to spend this time with you. It's been… fun."

Derek narrowed his eyes, not liking where this conversation seemed to suddenly be going.

"It has been," Casey replied, giving Noel a kind smile.

"Well, maybe…" Noel began hesitantly, but trailed off. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he diverted his eyes. "Maybe we could, you know, get together sometime to…hang-out…? Are you free tomorrow?"

Derek's stomach felt like it had plummeted to his feet and that he was going to be sick. He kind of wanted to raise the volume back up, if not louder than it was before, to drown out Casey's answer, but he felt immobile.

 _This_ is what he was afraid of happening. He could just picture Casey accepting the date with the utmost of glee. She and Noel-y would soon get together and be perfect. They'd attend the same uppity-up university after high school, where they'd become lawyers, or doctors, or something of that prestigious nature. Then they'd get married and have perfect, but obviously nerdy, poetry-loving children and –

"Oh, I'm sorry, Noel, um, I, you see, I have Derek's hockey game tomorrow…" Casey answered, which broke Derek immediately from his nightmarish thoughts. She was going to his hockey game? Since when?

Derek could see Noel's smile falter, and for a moment Derek felt bad for the guy. That was until Derek remembered that Noel just asked Casey out, and then the hockey player's sympathy quickly ran its course.

"Right, right, of course," Noel said, nervously chuckling. "Maybe some other time…?"

Casey smiled politely back, but to both Derek's chagrin and elation didn't verbally give Noel an answer. Derek could tell Noel was hoping for more of a feedback, but the lanky kid just smiled back at Casey and walked out the door.

Derek let out a breath of relief. He thought he was about to lose his chance with Casey, but luckily it seems that he still had some time. Maybe he could somehow win her over at his game tomorrow, since Casey was apparently going to his game!

"So, you're going to my hockey game tomorrow?" Derek elatedly questioned, once Casey securely locked up the front door and walked into the living room.

"Aw, you heard that?" she asked, squishing her face in annoyance, and pouting.

Derek's excitement reasonably diminished. "Yes, I did," Derek curtly replied, growing defensive. "Listen, if you were just telling Noel that to shake off his tail, you don't actually have to come," he spoke sourly.

He turned away from her to continue watching hockey on the television, though it was more of a facade of indifference, since he couldn't seem to concentrate. He especially couldn't concentrate with the sensation of her eyes on him, but he refused to look back at her. He knew it must have been too good to be true. Why the hell would she _willingly_ want to go to his game? He was so stupid, letting himself think she cared more than she did.

"Derek," she let out softly. Derek felt his heart twinge, but tried to swallow the sensation down as he continued to ignore her. He didn't want her to give him void apologies out of pity.

"Derek," she began again, but firmer now. She walked in front of him, blocking his view. "Look at me." But Derek still stood his ground as he kept looking straight ahead, as if he could see the television through her.

Assumingly put up with his stubbornness, Casey attempted a new tactic to get his attention by wrapping her slender fingers around his chin and forcing his chin in her direction so their eyes could meet. If it had been anyone else, he would have easily averted his eyes, but once Derek looked into Casey's denim blue orbs, he was locked in.

Casey sunk down on the couch to his right, all the while keeping his chin in her grip. "Now listen," she commanded lightly, "I _am_ going to your game. I just didn't want you to know because I wanted to surprise you."

Derek observed Casey for a moment. She looked sincere. Was he just overreacting again? Damn, when did their roles reverse so that _he_ was the Drama Queen? "Really?" he questioned, his lips uplifting slightly at the thought of Casey wanting to surprise him like that. It was sort of cute.

Casey's lips twitched into a shy smile. "Yeah," she answered lowly, unconsciously rubbing her thumb against his chin soothingly. The young hockey star could feel the tension in his body deflate and his face relax. "Now that you've taught me some of the basics, I thought it would be nice to see an actual hockey game live – it's kind of like a field trip!"

Derek's face immediately broke out into a full-teeth grin. "You're such a keener!" he proclaimed, but it was said with much more adoration than mockery. "But, I don't blame you, wanting to see your first live hockey game, watching one of the best," he said, pointing towards himself cockily.

Casey giggled and shook her head lightly at his arrogance. She then paused in her actions and gently moved his face from side to side, examining him with a small worried frown. "You look exhausted, Derek."

"Mmm, definitely am," Derek said, sighing as he gently leaned into Casey's touch, closing his eyes to further indicate his statement. "Coach practically ran us into the ground today."

Casey's hand weaved its way into his hair. She combed and tugged through his strands expertly, soothing Derek's head, which helped him forget about the aching muscles of his body just a little bit more.

"Why has he been training you guys so hard this week?" Derek heard Casey question a little while into her ministrations.

"It's a big game tomorrow against our rivals, The Hamilton Hoots," Derek lazily answered back, as Casey's hands managed to keep him mellow. "We haven't beaten them at home for five years, and my coach can't take it anymore."

"You'll do great," she assured him.

Derek cracked open his eyes to look at his stepsister. "Duh! Because I'm the best."

Casey abruptly laughed as she peeled her hands away from his hair. "I guess I will be the judge of that tomorrow…" she said, veering off as she caught of glimpse of what Derek had been watching. "Wait, am I missing a Leafs game? I thought they weren't playing tonight," she frantically wondered. "I thought I had all their games for this month marked down in my planner, so I don't miss one!"

Derek softly chuckled at Casey's keener tendencies showing once again. He was gladdened though. At least it seemed like Casey looked forward to their hockey sessions as much as he did, or at least that's what he was hopefully guessing, and not that she could've just turned into a Leafs super-fan.

"They aren't," Derek answered. "This is the Canadiens and Bruins game. There was nothing else on TV."

Casey nodded her acknowledgement, and they both dropped the conversation to watch the game in a comfortable silence.

Silence. That was odd and new for Derek. The oldest Venturi kid couldn't think of the last time - sans Casey recently - where he sat on a couch with a girl he was interested in and was okay with silence that didn't result from a grope fest. Even pre-nice pact with Casey, he tried to fill in any silence with an argument. But now, now Derek just liked being near her, to know she was there; it was comforting, and though he'd gladly have a grope fest with Casey if she suddenly wanted to, he didn't feel it was as necessary as it was with previous girls.

This revelation only seemed to further reinforce what he had been thinking lately, which was that his...feelings ran further than pure attraction and to maybe...something-more.

He smiled softly to himself as he thought of that something-more, and if he could possibly something-more Casey. Taking a quick peak at Casey's profile, showing her deep concentration to the game on TV, he realized, yes, it was very possible.

As the second period finally came to a close though, Derek's eyes were growing heavier and heavier against him. He kept trying to pry them open – for he wanted to spend more time with Casey – but they were adamant to stay closed and pull him to sleep.

"Derek," he heard Casey say softly by his side, prodding his arm. "Go to bed, Der."

A refusal was on the edge of his lips, but his brain must have deemed him too tired to speak. So, he let Casey pull him from the couch and guide him safely up the stairs to his room.

It was probably better this way. He had a big game to win tomorrow after all, and maybe even a certain someone to impress.


	12. Chapter 12

"Casey," Nora spoke as she leaned into her daughter's room. Casey swiveled around in her desk chair to face her mother. "We're getting ready to leave for Derek's game."

"Oh!" Casey sounded, jetting up from her chair and scurrying to the opposite side of the room. She had lost track of the time while working on schoolwork. "I'll be down in a minute. I just need to get a few things," she said as she began scavenging the trunk in front of her bed for her toque.

Nora's posture straightened in the doorway. "You're going to Derek's game?" she asked astonished. Her eyes were wide open with her eyebrows elevated high, causing several horizontal lines on her forehead to be noticeable from where Casey was in her room.

Casey could perfectly understand her mother's bafflement. Usually, Casey only attended one, maybe two, playoff games a year – purely out of duress from the family – but even then she had to be dragged to the arena. So for Casey to _want_ to go to a game…

"Yeah," Casey began hesitantly, "I mean, Derek's been teaching me hockey this week, so I thought watching a game live rather than on the TV might be a nice change…"

Casey watched as Nora's face morphed from a state of shock to a sense of all-knowing enthusiasm. "Ooh, I know what's going on!"

A funny feeling seemed to pool at the pit of Casey's stomach at her mother's words. "Y-You do?" she squeaked, nervously twisting her recently found hat in her hands.

"Watching all of those hockey games with Derek makes sense now," Nora started, taking careful strides into her daughter's room. Casey nervously swallowed. "This is about a boy, isn't it?" Casey could feel her face growing gradually hot.

Seemingly encouraged by Casey's flushed face, Nora pressed. "You like someone on the team?"

At this point, Casey was sure her face could now rival the red on the Canadian flag. " _Mom_ ," she stressed desperately, her tone imploring for her mother to quit the mini interrogation.

Nora jokingly raised her hands in surrender. "Oh alright, you don't want to tell your mother, I see," she chuckled as she made her way back out to the hallway. "We're leaving soon, so hurry up!" she said, before finally leaving.

Casey's whole body seemed to deflate in relief as soon as her mother left the room. Nora had been teetering closer and closer. The teenager was afraid that if her mother kept going the way she was that Casey would have either spilled the beans or left little doubt as to who she liked.

Casey just came to term with her feelings about Derek, and the idea of someone else in the household knowing felt too suffocating for her liking, especially if it got back to Derek somehow; that'd be humiliating! Plus, she wasn't sure how her mother would react to such a thing, and Casey didn't want to risk potential outbursts for something that might not graduate from a crush. It was just best to keep things to herself for the moment.

But, if, in the future, somehow something developed between Derek and her, she wouldn't be opposed to telling people – particularly their family.

Casey sighed, shaking her head, as she gathered some of the clothing she would need in order to bear the arena's temperature. She was getting way too ahead of herself. She had to stick to the moment, and take baby steps – like actually watching one of Derek's hockey games.

...

When the McDonald-Venturi clan finally entered the rink, they were surprised to see it was already semi-crowded. Luckily, the family was able to secure seats two rows from the ice, near one of the goal nets.

However, somehow, Casey had found herself sandwiched between her family; her mom and George (with Marti on his lap) to her right, and Lizzie and Edwin on her left. And everyone, besides Nora, kept shooting her peculiar glances, like if they looked long enough they might figure out why she was there, as if the answer was randomly going to flash across her face.

Now, Casey knew her family would be the confused and a bit bewildered, but surely they looked long enough at home when they first learned she was going. If not, then during the whole car ride over to the arena should have been sufficient enough, but apparently not. She now wished she had gone alone, or even dragged Emily to come instead. Anything was better than the weight of all of their eyes on her.

"Casey, why are you here?" Marti asked innocently, as well as bluntly, asking the question it seemed everyone wouldn't ask. "You hate hockey!" she further exclaimed, contorting her face upwards as she wrinkled her nose.

"Casey likes someone on the team," Nora elatedly spoke before Casey could even open her mouth. If the family wasn't already staring at her, they were definitely now.

Casey could feel her face flare up again, even despite the coldness of the arena. She scanned her immediate area for any place to hide, but under her seat was way too small and, not to mention, unsanitary, so Casey opted to dip her head low and stay quiet, hoping they would all get the hint and ignore her.

Eventually everyone's attention turned elsewhere, though Casey could still hear Edwin and Lizzie intensely whispering about something that Casey could only conclude was about her when she heard her name dropped a few times. She tried not to let that bother her. They could be talking about anything. But if they were trying to figure out the mystery guy, there were a lot of players on the Thompson Hockey team; it could be any one of them she was there for and surely they wouldn't think of Derek first – at least that's what Casey kept telling herself to keep herself sane.

Suddenly the crowd collectively stood to their feet and started cheering as the home team stepped out onto the ice. Casey shadowed everyone's actions.

Derek was the first on the ice, leading his team out. He was decked out in all of his gear to the point he was almost indistinguishable from the rest of his teammates, but Casey had memorized his number (19) before coming. If she somehow forgot that, there was always the big "C" on his left shoulder that would help differentiate him from the pack.

She watched him skate around the rink along with his teammates, before he settled towards the hockey net they were sitting near. She watched him look up in the crowd, trying to spot them. A grin spread across his face when he caught site of Marti. His eyes then scanned down the row. When his eyes finally landed on Casey's, her heart jumped up towards her throat, and she swore that that his lips spread just a little bit wider.

…

Watching hockey live was very exhilarating, as well as horrifying. The energy that was formed from the crowd easily made the game more enjoyable and exciting. However, Casey winced every time someone got smashed up against the boards; hearing the grunts of pain and things colliding so violently together were definitely more defined in person than on TV.

The 3rd period had just begun and the Thompson Warriors were winning 3-2. But despite their lead, their opponents were relentless. Derek's coach had been right to prepare his team for the assault that was the Hamilton Hoots. The Hoots seemed to always have to settle the score and retaliate; a check for a check, a penalty for a penalty, a goal for a goal. It was a good game, but rough.

The best part of the game though was undeniably Derek. And although Casey was probably a bit biased, Derek had been playing extremely well, scoring 2 of the 3 Warriors' goals and assisting for the other one. She used to think Derek was all talk, but now, seeing him in his element, she could admit (unfortunately) that his arrogance towards his hockey abilities was justified.

"So, has your crush played today?" Nora asked quietly, breaking Casey from her thoughts.

Casey sighed, knowing if was futile to deny any crush at this point. She wished she had been able to lie as well as Derek could in order to avoid this whole awkward mess. "Yes."

Nora smiled sincerely at her daughter. "How is he playing?"

Casey's eyes caught Derek's form jumping over the bench wall and on to the ice as the lines changed. He immediately swooped in and stole the puck from the Hoots' right-wing. "Good..." Casey answered nervously.

"DEREK'S ON A BREAKAWAY!" George then shouted proudly, which caused Nora to turn her head to the ice once more to watch.

After stealing the puck, Derek was able to shake away the Hoots' defenders and head straight for the net alone. Getting closer to the goal, Derek dekked to the left then the right, trying to outsmart the Hoots' goalie, before sending a wrist shot into the top-left shelf. The puck just nearly hit the goalie's shoulder as it sailed right into the net.

The sirens behind the goal blared and the crowd simultaneously jumped to their feet in jubilance, chanting Derek's name. On the ice below, Derek was swarmed by his teammates in celebration.

Throughout the chaotic glee, a few hats were thrown on the ice. At first, Casey thought they were just crazy enthusiasts, like fangirls at a rock show who threw their bras on stage. However, more and more hats were being thrown on to the ice every second, perplexing and even angering Casey.

These people were tainting Derek's goal celebration!

Fuming, Casey turned to Edwin and Lizzie to vent, but was met with the site of Edwin and Lizzie throwing their own hats down like everyone else. "Lizzie! Edwin! Don't follow these barbaric, mindless drones! They're littering the ice!"

The duo snickered. "Casey," her sister began, fighting off more laughter. "Derek scored three goals, which in hockey is called a 'hat trick'. Hence, people throw their hats on to the ice to help celebrate."

"Oh…" Casey sounded quietly, fiddling the fabric of the toque on her head. She felt so stupid. This 'hat trick' thing hadn't come up in any of her sessions with Derek. "Do-do you _have_ to throw your hat?" she wondered, not wanting to disrespect Derek or even the sport if she didn't.

"No, Casey, you don't _have_ to throw your hat," Lizzie guaranteed her with a chuckle. Casey let out a breath of relief for her hat was _way_ too cute to be throwing around anyway.

…

Thompson High ended up winning the game 4-3. Obviously, much of the victory belonged to Derek and the three goals he was able to score.

George had told the family to stay in their seats when the rest of the place started to clear. Only when the arena was almost desolate of people did he beckon the group to follow his lead. George then twisted down hallways easily and knowledgeably, before getting to the area outside the Thompson players' locker room.

Other groups of people were present, most likely family members of other players. They were all chatting excitedly about the game. George, Nora, and the rest of the clan went up towards the front to ham up Derek's performance, but Casey stayed back away from all the commotion.

She was nervous, for starters. What would she say to Derek when he came out? Surely he would want to know how she liked the game, it being the first game she watched in person and all. But how would she be able to refrain herself from making herself so obvious? It seems as if it was getting harder and harder to hide her feelings for him.

The locker-room door then abruptly opened, hitting the cinderblock wall next to it harshly, thus disrupting Casey out of her worrying thoughts.

A group of players all filed out, still radiating from their win as they greeted their loved ones. Sam was among them, trying to weave around all his teammates, and briefly saying hello to her family as he passed them. Casey thought he was in a rush to get somewhere, but apparently not when he stopped right in-front of her.

"Hey, Casey," Sam greeted.

"Hey, Sam," Casey politely responded back, trying to be discreet as she quickly looked over Sam's shoulder for any sign of Derek.

"Derek will be out soon," Sam said, his voice bordering the line of teasing.

Casey's face immediately pinked, feeling so obvious. "Oh, okay…whatever," she said dismissively, trying to fake casualness.

Sam chuckled, but didn't say anything further for a round of congratulations and cheers rang throughout the room as Derek stepped out from the locker-room. He cockily smiled, high-fiving and winking at the people who praised him.

Casey felt the urge to roll her eyes, but ceased. Admittedly, she knew he deserved the admiration – no matter how ridiculous he looked milking it.

Slowly, the crowd started to disperse. As they did, Derek finally was able to lock eyes with Casey, smirking at her as he did. The action produced a fizzle feeling to bubble in her stomach. Casey had to divert her attention just to regain her breath again.

"Casey! Sam! Join us," Nora called out, motioning them both over. When they did, George suggested that they order take-out to celebrate.

"Mmm, take-out sounds great, but a bunch of people from the team were already thinking about going to Smellie Nellie's to celebrate," Derek said. He then turned towards Casey. "You wanna come with, Case?"

Casey's mouth bobbed up and down for a moment, not exactly prepared for this. She never hung out with Derek's teammates/friends before, besides Sam and Ralph. Would it be too awkward? Would _she_ be too awkward for such a crowd?

"Why don't you go, honey," Nora encouraged as she saddled up to Casey's side, wrapping her arm around her daughter's shoulders securely. "You might even get to chat with your crush a little bit," she then whispered into Casey's ear.

Casey blushed for what felt like the millionth time that day. "Sure," she agreed, nodding her head along, "it sounds like fun."

Derek's face broke out into a grin, which caused Casey's stomach to somersault a few times over.

One by one everyone in the family disappeared down the hall. When not even an echo could be heard of the Venturi-McDonald bunch, Derek turned back to Casey. "So…?" he asked tentatively, trailing off as he shoved his hands into his jean pockets. "How'd you like the game?"

"I really liked it," Casey spoke honestly. She bit her lip. "You played well too."

"Just _'well'_?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow and smirking.

Casey tried to suppress her budding smile from stretching too far. "Okay, you were…kind of amazing out there tonight. Happy?"

Derek dipped his head for a moment, nodding. "As long as you understand just what a hockey God I am now," he quipped. Casey laughed.

A silence then grew between them as they contently stared at the other, smiling.

"You must be some lucky charm, Casey," Sam interrupted, startling the duo who had forgotten he was there.

Derek cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Sam, heh…Why don't you turn the car on and get the heat started, man?" he offered, throwing the Prince keys at his best friend.

Sam caught the keys effortlessly. "No problem, just don't take too long, you two," he teased in a sing-a-long voice, before strolling down the hall.

After a few moments passed, Derek gestured for them to walk down the hallway she saw everyone else disappear down. They continued to walk in silence as Derek led her down a few more hallways, ending up near the ice, rather than at any exit to take them to the parking lot like Casey thought Derek was steering them to.

Derek sat down in one of the seats in the row closest to where they entered. He looked over at Casey and patted the seat next to him, wordlessly asking her to join him.

"What about Sam?" Casey asked as she settled into a seat next to him.

"He'll be fine," Derek said, waving his best friend off. "Plus, the Prince takes forever to heat up and I'd rather not turn to ice right now," he continued, grinning at her.

"So…a 'Hat Trick,'" Casey said, trying to think of something to say to prevent a lapse of silence. "You didn't teach me that term. I was really confused when people starting throwing their hats on the ice," she confessed, laughing at herself now. "I was even getting angry."

Derek threw his head back in laughter. "Oh, man! I bet your reaction was priceless!" he exclaimed, turning his whole body towards Casey. "Do you think Edwin might have caught some of that on tape by any chance?"

Casey shook her head. "I believe you are out of luck on that."

"Damn," Derek theatrically puckered, snapping his fingers in defeat.

Casey giggled, enjoying this interaction with him. It felt real, at least _realer_ than any other time she was with him. At school, and even at home, it felt like they always had to play a role. Now, they were just two teenagers, sitting in an empty stadium, laughing and talking together. No pressure.

"He's right, you know," Derek spoke up.

"Who is right about what?" Casey asked confusingly.

"Sam," Derek clarified. "About you being a lucky charm…"

Casey shyly looked down at her lap. "I-I don't think I'm that special or lucky or anything..."

"Casey," he said, his tone beseeching for her attention. When she looked over at him his eyebrows were ceased downwards, almost frowning. "I got a hat trick! That doesn't happen every day. It's a pretty rare occurrence in hockey. I've never got one before today."

"But that was just your skill, not my being a lucky charm," she reasoned, shaking her head at the ridiculous notion.

"Maybe," Derek agreed slightly, shrugging, "but you always make me want to do my best. Today wasn't any different."

Casey looked at Derek, flabbergasted. She didn't know how to respond to that. What was that supposed to even mean? That he purposely tried harder today because she was there?

With her mouth currently shut down, Casey viewed the boy in front of her very closely. His eyes were so soft and genuine looking. His hair, still damp from the showers, was curling up at the ends. His nose and cheeks were lightly peppered with a few freckles here and there. His lips were parted, almost inviting.

And that is the last of what she remembered thinking, before she found herself cupping Derek's face as she kissed him.

It didn't last long, and it was as chaste as a kiss could get, but it felt _good_.

Casey quickly broke away when she realized what she had done. Reeling from her spontaneous smooch, she hesitantly looked at Derek for his reaction; his eyes were bugged open in shock. When the reaction persisted, Casey started to panic, worried that she had freaked him out.

"I'm sorry," she expressed regretfully, before getting up from her seat and sprinting away.

Almost immediately, she could hear Derek calling her name behind her, but she didn't dare look back or stop. She just kept running.


	13. Chapter 13

When Derek finally took notice that the brunette girl was not in-front of him but running up the stairs towards the main hall, he scrambled out of his seat. "Shit," he cursed as he began to chase after her. "Casey! Case!"

However, once Derek reached into the main hall, he was met with an empty view. He frantically looked all around him, but there seemed to be no one around, let alone his step-sister.

"Fuck…" Derek whispered, throwing his fingers into his tangled hair. "Casey!" he hollered down the one way, then did the same in the opposite direction.

She had either grown severely deaf in the last few minutes, or she was avoiding him. Derek frowned at the latter, knowing that option was a lot more likely. "Casey! Come on!"

Wandering down the hall towards the entrance doors, Derek kept an eye and ear out for Casey. She had to still be in the building. There was no way she could have been fast enough to reach the exit without Derek seeing her. Or at least he thought.

From the entrance doors, Derek could see the Prince and its exhaust running. Sam was probably wondering where they were. Figuring he should let Sam know about Casey's Houdini act, Derek went outside and started towards the Prince.

When Derek was close enough, Sam rolled down the window half way. "About time!" he shouted jovially.

Derek walked up to the window. "Have you by any chance seen Casey?"

Sam scrunched up his face in confusion. "What? Last time I saw her she was with you!" Derek sighed, shaking his head troublingly. "Derek…what did you do…?"

Derek's head snapped up. "Me?! She was the one that kissed me then fled in a conniption!"

"She kissed you?!"

"Sam, that's not the point right now!" Derek hollered. "Casey ran off and I can't find her!"

Derek looked back at the arena. "She has to still be in there, somewhere. I'm gonna check again. Can you keep an eye out?"

"Derek, wait!" Sam yelled from the car. Derek retraced the few steps he took.

"Just give her some space," Sam advised. "If she wanted to be found, she would have shown herself by now. Let's just head to Smellie Nellie's and let her cool down."

"But we're her ride…"

"I'm sure Emily would be willing to pick her up if Casey wants to go home," Sam interjected.

Derek looked at Sam and then at the arena, looking painfully torn. "I don't want her to think I abandoned her or something."

"Here," Sam said, taking out his phone before punching various keys. "I just sent Casey a text saying that we're leaving and that if she wants a ride from us to come out now."

Derek turned around, hoping Casey would emerge from the arena. But as the minutes trickled by, Casey hadn't come out.

"Come on, Derek," Sam cajoled, "she'll be okay."

Reluctantly, Derek got into the Prince. With one last look at the stadium, he drove out of the parking lot.

…

Derek decided to bail from Smellie Nellie's not even an hour into the festivities. His teammates carried on, wanting him to stick around and even party afterwards, but he just wasn't into it. He kept thinking about Casey, worrying about her. He hoped she was at least home – she hadn't been answering any of his numerous texts or phone calls.

Opening up the front door, he saw his dad and Nora lounging on the couch together. At his entrance, they both turned to him as if they had been waiting for him. The hockey star internally cursed; this day just kept going downhill.

"Derek, why don't you sit down," George started, pointing to his recliner.

Derek eyed the stairs, but sat hesitantly down in his seat.

"Casey came home pretty upset," George started sternly. Derek was instantly relieved that she was at least home and safe. Then he cringed, thinking of the image of Casey coming home crying with smeared mascara and smudged eye shadow.

"Did you do anything to her?" George continued.

Derek sputtered, flabbergasted. "I promise you! I didn't do anything!"

George and Nora exchanged a look.

"Listen," Derek said, abruptly standing up. He wasn't about to be accused for something he didn't do. "I don't know why she's upset, so can I please just go up to my room?"

His dad and step-mother exchanged another look to each other, before both nodding their acceptance. Thankful for the getaway, Derek ran up the stairs before his dad and Nora could change their minds.

Once on the landing, Derek made a bee-line to his stepsister's door. He knocked gently, hoping she would be more willing to cooperate with him if he acted polite. "Case?" he gently called out.

He could hear some shuffling going on in her room, but no sounds that indicated she was going to open the door. He tried the doorknob, but it was predictably locked.

"Casey, come on. Open up!" Derek pleaded.

"She's been locked in there since she got home and won't open it for anyone."

Derek whirled around to face the owner of the new voice, Lizzie.

"What did you do to my sister?" she accused.

Derek wailed his hands in the air. "Why does everyone think I did anything?!" Lizzie raised her eyebrow. "Okay, okay, so I don't have the best track record, but I swear it wasn't my fault this time!"

"Well, your fault or not, you better fix it."

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" he said, referring to Casey's door. "Do you think I just like knocking on doors for the hell of it?"

Lizzie shrugged. "What happened anyway?"

"I'll let you know when I do," Derek muttered as he looked at Casey's door.

…

It was the next day now and Derek was inconspicuously camping out on the edge of his bed with his door wide open, hoping to catch Casey whenever she decided to come out of hiding. She had literally not opened her door all day – at least not since noon (when Derek woke up). Derek was nearing in on his 5th hour and there were no signs that she was coming out anytime soon.

Throwing another magazine down on his littered floor, Derek sighed as he ran a hand down his face. He had read every comic book and magazine that had been hoarded in his room. (Well, except for maybe his playboys, but he wasn't about to look at them with his door wide open.)

He was bored out of his freakin' mind, but he knew that once he went downstairs to get a snack, or even simply went to go on his computer, that she would open her door. And if she was going this far out of her way to avoid him so far, he knew she would hightail past him like the roadrunner zooming away from the coyote.

"Derek?"

Derek's head swiveled to the voice of his step-mother.

"Dinner is ready," she told him. "Why don't you head down."

At the mention of dinner, Derek's stomach rumbled. He had only eaten some chips from a bag that he had stockpiled on his bedside table. So, seeing as he was hungry and bored to tears, Derek decided now was probably a good time as ever to take a break.

Bounding down the stairs, Derek was met with the mouthwatering aroma of spaghetti and meatballs. It one of Casey's favorite meals, Derek noted as he sat down. Maybe Nora was trying to lure her out of her room with the scent. Though the tactic would probably work more on him than Casey, it was worth a try.

Soon everyone, besides Casey, was at the table, taking their share of the Italian cuisine. No one even mentioned Casey's absence, but the empty chair across from Derek felt like it was haunting him.

Derek really was dumbfounded by Casey's actions. He didn't get why she was holing herself away and practicing to be a hermit. All she did was kiss him. Was it really so bad that it warranted all of this? Derek frowned wretchedly at the possibility.

In between bites a few minutes later, Derek swore he heard a small creak come from behind him. Curiously, he turned towards the noise.

His breath hitched because there was Casey on the landing, hunched over and crumpled up into herself like a wounded animal. She looked a mess with her hair thrown into a wild bun and wearing clothes two times her size. But Derek had to admit, she was one hot mess.

Their eyes connect for one short moment.

"Casey!" Nora's voice then cut through the rest of the dinner chatter. Casey jumped, startled by the outburst. Her eyes immediately darted from Derek's to her mother's. "I'm so glad you came down for dinner. It's your favorite, see?" Nora continued, gesturing to the meal on the table.

Warily, Casey took her seat. She then slowly took a spoonful of everything on the table, but was pointedly avoiding any more eye-contact towards Derek, which ticked him off. What did he do to deserve this kind of treatment?

"Casey, can you pass me the bread?" Derek asked in an effort to get her to at least look at him.

Almost blindly, Casey reached for the bread and passed it to Derek without sparing him a glance. Derek took it, sighing disappointingly.

"Derek, Daphne wants some bread too!" Marti exclaimed.

"Then give her some bread," Derek answered simply.

"Can you?!" she asked, "she's under the table pretending to be a doggie!" she proclaimed, giggling that cute, adorable laugh she often made.

"Sure…" Derek unenthusiastically promised. It was hard to say no to his Smarti, plus the inevitable tantrum that occurred afterwards if you didn't do something was not what he wanted on his agenda for tonight.

Taking a small piece of bread, Derek made a show of leaning down under the table and theatrically talking to Daphne. While doing so though, Derek noticed that Casey's feet were towards the middle of the table. His mouth quirked to the side, thinking of an idea.

When he finally came back up to the top of the table, Marti seemed very satisfied, as well as the rest of the table, who were probably thankful that they weren't the ones that had to do it.

As everyone went back to their meals, Derek decided to put his idea into action. He slowly moved his sock-clad foot closer and closer to the middle of the table, before rubbing against Casey's foot sensually.

Derek entertainingly watched as Casey's eyes bugged. She squeaked, which caught the attention of everyone at the table. Hurriedly, Casey's foot withdrew from under Derek's not long after that. She was beginning to flush a very deep red.

"Everything alright, Casey?" Nora questioned, worried about her eldest.

"Yeah, is everything alright, Case?" Derek spoke patronizingly, trying to goad her to say or do something, anything, but all she did was nod her head and continue eating her meal.

Derek wanted to cry out in anger. Damn her for being so stubborn. Would she just freakin' look at him?!

"Hey, Case, want the last piece of bread?" he spoke, his words clipped from his frustration. Unsurprisingly, she didn't acknowledge him, so Derek threw it at her.

Casey sputtered as the bread shot sauce from her plate up to her face.

There was an eerie silence before - "DER-EK!" she exclaimed, her eyes radiating so much revulsion towards him. She was fuming.

Derek sat stock-still with his mouth agape, not knowing how to react. He was both elated and shocked that she finally acknowledged him, even more so that she yelled and ripped apart his name. And damn, it's been way too long since the last time she ripped apart his name. Derek almost forgot how much he loved it and the thrill that came along with it.

But also, he just really wanted to laugh because the sauce was now beginning to perfectly blend with the pigment of her face and it all just happened too perfectly that he wished he had his camera so he could've videotaped it. It would definitely be up there in the highlight reels.

Of course, the reaction that manifested was the one of shrill laughter.

At that, Casey quickly jumped from her seat and ran up the stairs.

"Shit," Derek cursed, realizing his mistake. He quickly stood from his seat, quick to follow her. He wasn't going to let her get away this time.

"Get out!" Casey screamed when she heard the bathroom door close. She was leaning over the sink, presumably washing the sauce off her face.

Derek winced. Apparently, she was still on that whole screaming craze.

"Casey," Derek said, trying to say it as calmly as he could, "I think we really need to talk."

Casey snorted. "There is no way I will ever talk to you!" she hollered. She then turned around, face damp from the sink water, but it looked like was crying too.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Derek thought as he took a reflexive step back. She was crying. Crying was not part of the plan. He just wanted her to talk to him. He wasn't good with tears. He had to force himself not to listen to the part of the brain that was shouting ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!

He gulped down his flight response. "Casey," he tried again shakily, "we are going to talk."

Casey folded her arms across her chest. "Well, I say, we aren't going to talk."

"YES!" Derek pressed, taking a step forward.

"NO!" Casey said, taking a step herself.

"Yes, we are!" Derek said taking another stride towards her.

"No, we are n-" but Casey was cut short by Derek kissing her.

He held her face in his hands as he kissed her, really kissed her. He wasn't sure if she was only letting him do this out of shock or what, but he was going to try and make it worth his wile.

Kissing Casey felt like being in a whole new league. Everything felt, smelled, and tasted so unique and foreign from any other girl he's ever kissed. He tried to label the sensations and feelings, but every word that flittered though his mind to describe the kiss all just got jumbled up in his brain. All his mind could compute was Casey and that was strangely enough for Derek.

When he no longer could breath, Derek separated from Casey cautiously, while watching her attentively. She had her eyes still closed and her lips still pursed. When her eyes finally blinked open, she stared up at him with confused, furrowed eyebrows.

"Can we talk now?" Derek breathlessly asked.

Casey nodded her head dumbly.


	14. Chapter 14

"Here," Derek said as he took a hold of Casey's hand, guiding her down to the titled floor of the bathroom. They were sitting with their backs against the tub; her legs tucked up near her chest, while his laid languidly out in front of him.

"So," he began uneasily. Casey immediately dipped her head down in her own discomfort. "What happened in the arena? Why'd you run away?"

It took her a few false attempts, but eventually she was able to choke out some words. "You weren't saying anything. And you were looking at me as if I had three heads…" she told him, her voice meek.

Derek cleared his throat. "To be fair, I probably look at you like you have three heads most of the time anyway…"

"Der-ek," Casey weakly let out, smiling despite herself. Casey felt her head spin as a wave of déjà vu overcame her – sitting on the bathroom floor, sharing a heart-to-heart with Derek.

He smirked, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Continue, Princess."

"I-I thought I read the whole situation wrong. I thought I read you wrong. I thought I ruined everything between us. I mean, we had just started to get along and be friends. So, I ran away to save myself from whatever embarrassment I was sure was going to follow."

Derek sat there for a moment, just watching her with this lazy grin spread across his face. Casey had no idea why he was looking at her like that, since her hair was a tangled mess and she hadn't showered all day. Casey suddenly felt very self-conscious, now hyper aware of her appearance.

"Did you ever think that maybe I was just in complete shock?" he asked, laughing faintly. He began to move his thumb across the back of her hand in circles. "You kinda threw me off guard there, Case."

Her heart was pumping so hard that Casey was sure Derek could feel the palpitations as he held her hand. "Are you saying that I rendered The Derek Venturi speechless?" she managed with a slight up-curve to her lip.

"I'd deny it," he answered smoothly, his eyes twinkling in their usual mischievous.

"So…" Casey began hesitantly, "does this all mean that you like me?" Her hands were shaking and she unconsciously pulled her legs closer to herself.

She needed to hear Derek's feelings about her from Derek. Emily could tell her all about Derek being crazy about her and Casey could up with her own conclusions, but nothing was concrete in Casey's mind unless it came from Derek. She couldn't live with any doubt.

"You know, for someone so smart, you can be quite clueless," Derek commented lowly. Casey frowned, but Derek instantly took his free hand to soften out the worried lines on her forehead as he tiredly sighed. "Yes, Case. I like you. A lot. Happy?"

Tears immediately brimmed her eyes. "Very," she croaked, beginning to cry faintly from the overabundance of happiness that was radiating through her at that instant. Just hours before, she thought she'd never be able to show her face in-front of Derek again. But now, he was here with her, holding her hand and telling her he liked her too.

"Arghh, I thought we got past the crying part," Derek groaned, cringing at the drops that were falling down her face.

"They are happy tears!" Casey defended, her laughter bubbling as she hit Derek lightly on the chest.

"Jeez, it's been, what, a minute since we got together, and you're already hitting me?" he accused jokily, rubbing the place where she hit him.

Casey's laughter vacuumed up into her throat. "Der-ek! You can't just ask me to be your girlfriend like that! You didn't even ask!"

"Yes, Princess," Derek spoke committedly, rolling his eyes.

A moment passed as she sat, waiting impatiently. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Don't you have something to ask me?" she prompted, leaning towards him hopefully,

"Oh, you mean the girlfriend thing?" Casey nodded. "I'm not going to ask you now. You're going to have to wait," Derek responded, smiling devilishly down at her. "Should have just let it go…"

"DER-EK!" she cried out again, and Derek laughed, his eyes squinted and his cheeks outstretched enough to display his laugh lines.

"You just love shouting my name, don't you?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively. Casey could feel her cheeks grow red hot.

"I've missed it," Derek admitted, taking his free hand to play with a strand of her hair. "And to think, it only took one dinner roll to get you to break. If I would have known that, I would have tried that last week when I was on my prank streak," Derek said with a small chuckle.

Casey's eyes popped wide open, just now realizing what she did. She yelled. At Derek. Which meant she wasn't nice. To Derek. She lost the bet with Emily. "Oh, my God. I yelled at you."

"Yes, I was there, as well as my gradually damaged ears," Derek answered flippantly. "But please, don't stop. Not only did I miss it, it's also really hot."

Now it was Casey's turn to roll her eyes. It was such a typical male/Derek thing to say.

"I've kind of missed yelling at you too. It's fun, in a way…" Casey trailed off. "Is that weird?" she wondered, laughing at her own question.

"No," Derek immediately answered, but then cocked his head to the side in thought. "Okay, yeah, it is kind of weird, but I think our fighting is fun too, so I guess we're both just freakin' weirdos who fight like it's foreplay or something."

The blush that had been gradually fading spiked up again. Casey bit her lip shyly.

Casey watched as Derek's eyes narrowed in on the action; he sucked in a huge breath. "Alright, so I've surpassed my feelings quota for the next couple decades, I think I need some compensation for acting like such a pansy," Derek said, leaning down close to Casey's mouth, so that his breath ghosted over Casey's lips.

"Oh really?" Casey answered coyly.

"Mmhmm," Derek softly hummed before pressing his lips against hers softly.

He grabbed her legs, pulling her until she was comfortably in his lap. Their lips meshed together a little too hard at first from their excitement, but it soon eased out into complete bliss. He probed her lips apart so he could sneak in his tongue and Casey couldn't remember ever being kissed like this in her life. Her hands travelled up into his hair, sinking her nails into his curls. She could vaguely feel his hands resting on her hips, skirting just the top of her jeans.

He then broke the kiss only just briefly to readjust his lips to capture her bottom one solely, sucking on it vigorously. Casey could feel her eyes roll further into the back of her head as she let out a breathy moan. Derek immediately pulled her body closer, and suddenly the temperature in the room felt like it was turned up a couple hundred notches, as if they had been drawing a scalding hot bath and were just now feeling the steam emancipating.

Suddenly, there was an ignorant round of knocks heard outside the bathroom door. The action startled Casey out of her Derek-induced daze, but it seemed Derek was trying to ignore it as he continued to pepper light kisses down her neck.

"Derek?! You in there?" Edwin hollered. "I have to drop off some timber, if you know what I mean."

Derek groaned unpleasantly as he ended his ministrations on her neck. "I'll be out in a bit, Ed," Derek called out, annoyed. "Now scram!"

When they both heard Edwin's footsteps running up the attic steps, they finally let themselves laugh at the unbearably awkward moment. "Well, that picture surely ruined the moment…" Derek mumbled. Casey nodded her head in agreement as she scrunched her nose up in disgust.

Casey carefully climbed off of Derek's lap and stood up. Derek stood up too, brushing his pants off of some dust.

"I guess we better go before Edwin comes back," Casey suggested, eyeing the bathroom door.

Derek nodded, then started to walk over to the exit.

"Wait," Casey said, grabbing Derek by the sleeve to pull him back. "You're not going to tell Edwin about any of this, are you?"

Derek sighed. "Yes, Casey. I'm going to tell my brother everything," Derek dryly joked. "Sorry I was holding up the bathroom, Ed, but I was a bit busy feeling up Casey."

Casey crossed her arms. "Derek," she spoke sternly.

Derek laughed as he placed his hands on Casey's shoulders. "Lighten up, Case. Of course I'm not going to say anything to Edwin."

Casey nodded to herself absentmindedly. "Okay, good, because I don't want our family finding out about us just yet."

Derek lifted a single eyebrow up. "Ooh, so you want to try the whole sexy, secret rendezvous thing. Hot. Didn't know you were so kinky, Case."

Casey flushed just thinking about such rendezvous with Derek. "It - It's just that I'm not comfortable with everyone knowing yet and if you were to tell Edwin something then he'd tell Lizzie and then Lizzie would probably end up telling my mother and –"

"Case," Derek spoke up, interrupting her. "If we don't leave the bathroom soon, Edwin is definitely going to find out and any rendezvous time will be out of the question."

"Right…right." Casey then looked at the door. "Look out and make sure no one is around."

Derek nodded his head and opened the bathroom door just enough to survey the area. "All clear."

They proceeded to file out of the bathroom quickly, but as Casey went to take a step towards her bedroom, Derek grabbed her elbow and pulled her to him so that they were chest to chest.

"So about those sexy, secret rendezvous?" he whispered huskily, smirking as she blushed for the nth time that evening.

"In your dreams, Venturi," she spoke quietly, slowly extricating herself from his hold. All they needed was someone to come upstairs and catch them in such a position.

"All the time," Derek answered smoothly. "Which is why reality would be a nice change."

"Not tonight, hot shot," Casey said, shaking her head in amusement from Derek's frankness. She was going to have to get used to Derek blatantly hitting on her like this. "I need to study."

Derek pouted, making a big show of jutting out his bottom lip. It took all of Casey's will to stop herself from succumbing to him. Instead, she began to walk backwards until she reached her door.

"And since I know you're not going to study, why don't you use this time to figure out how you're going to properly ask me to be your girlfriend."

Derek started backpedaling towards his own room. "Yeah, yeah," he spoke before flashing her a knee-buckling grin and wink before entering his room and closing the door.

…

"Have a good day at school!" Nora shouted out the door to Derek and Casey as they began to back out of the driveway the next morning. The two teens both gave Nora short waves before Derek sped off down the street towards Thompson High. Once they turned the corner and were out of sight from the house though, Derek pulled the car over towards the curb.

"Why are we pulling over? Is something wrong with the car? Did you forget something?" Casey quickly rambled.

Derek merely ignored her as he leaned over the threshold between the two car seats and kissed her square on the mouth. "Good morning," he greeted as he rubbed his nose against hers playfully back and forth, grinning cheekily. "I've wanted to do that all morning, but, you know, house full of people and all."

Casey shyly smiled. Derek was being beyond adorable at the moment – something she never thought she'd ever think about her stepbrother. Deciding she would like to reward him for being this sweet, she pulled him down for a kiss that quickly morphed into something a little longer than she intended.

"We need to get to school," Casey mumbled against Derek's lips as she pulled away a minute or so later.

Derek groaned, falling back into his seat. "Oh how quickly a good morning turns bad."

"You know we can't do this all day," Casey pointed out with a slight giggle as she pulled down the sun visor to look at the mirror and make sure she still looked presentable enough for school.

"Well, technically, we could…" he commented as he put the car into drive and drove back on to the road.

"Derek," Casey let out warningly. "You know I can't miss school."

"Oh, I know, you poor, poor keener," Derek said, "but if you get anything out of dating me, you're going to find yourself skipping school at least once. It's good for the soul."

Casey snorted. "I'll believe that when it happens, Der," Casey said, unconvinced.

"I can be very persuasive," he insisted, looking over long enough to wink at Casey before he placed his attention back on the road.

Casey decided to stay silent for she knew that Derek really could be quite persuasive. She just didn't want Derek to know that she could be persuaded to skip school with enough coaxing. She didn't want to give him any encouragement.

Despite their slight detour, Casey and Derek arrived at school relatively early. Casey was very pleased, though Derek scowled.

"How can smile at the sight of school?" Derek wondered with disgust as they exited the car and started to make their way to the entrance.

"I like to learn. It makes me happy," she replied defensively.

"Well I guess there is a perk to be at school now," Derek then said as he took Casey's hand and intertwine them.

Casey's heart jumped up into her throat, and she immediately ripped her hand from Derek's in a panic. She frantically looked around the area to see if anyone saw, but luckily very few teenagers were lurking around, and the few that were present weren't paying any attention to them.

"What are you doing?!" she whispered hysterically to Derek.

"Holding your hand!" he softly yelled, matching Casey's decibel so they wouldn't draw a crowd.

"But you don't do the whole holding hands thing," Casey pointed out. "You don't do PDA!"

"But you do..." he countered.

Casey's defenses immediately fell at his words. "Aww," Casey cooed, making Derek cringe. "Would you really hold my hand if I wanted to?"

Derek nodded his head, though somewhat reluctantly now, Casey noticed. "What do you think I was trying to do just now? File your nails?"

Casey held back a laugh as she looked at her stepbrother admirably. He really was an enigma. She thought she knew practically everything about him, but somehow he always seemed to surprise her.

"As much as I appreciate the effort, Der, I told you last night I didn't want anyone to know about us yet," Casey reminded him, biting her lip nervously.

Derek's eyebrows knitted inwards. "Oh…okay…" he spoke slowly and distractedly, looking down at the parking lot's blacktop as he rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. "I thought you wanted to keep this hush hush just around the fam, not…everyone…"

Casey took a step towards him and Derek's eyes flickered up to hers questionably.

"Derek," she began softly. "I just need time. Time to just get used to all of these changes between us. Time to get myself prepared for all the questions our peers plus our parents will undoubtingly ask…"

Derek nodded his head quickly, though his eyes were downcast. "It's fine. We'll tell when you're comfortable."

Casey could feel that he was not pleased that she wanted to keep their budding relationship a secret, but she really appreciated his patience.

She reached up to fix the lapels of his leather jacket. "Thank you for being so understanding, and sweet."

"Hey!" he hollered playfully, softly swatting her hands away, "I'm not sweet!" Derek insisted, crossing his arms over his torso.

Casey copied his actions. "Are too!"

"Are not!"

"You so are! Don't deny it."

"There is nothing to deny when it's clearly not true," he said lifting his arms in a shrug before turning to walk into the school's front doors.

"Why can't you just take a compliment?" Casey wondered, trailing after him as he continued to walk easily down a couple hallways.

"Give me a proper compliment and I will take it just fine," he replied over his shoulder, and even though Casey couldn't see his face at the moment, she knew he was smirking.

"And what is a proper compliment according to Derek Venturi?"

Derek quickly turned around, inevitably making Casey walk right into his chest. He smirked down at her as he gently helped right her balance.

"Obviously, if you went around saying how incredibly charming, sexy, quick-witted, and remarkable I am, then I wouldn't be able to disagree with you."

Casey snorted. "You're so conceited."

"That's what attracts you to me, isn't?" Derek replied quietly, winking at her.

"Der-ek!" she grounded out, failing to fight off a smile. Derek warmly smiled down at her, his eyes so light with amusement. She liked how she was essentially allowed to stare into his eyes whenever she wanted now; they were always a feature of his she had liked.

A noise of someone clearing their throat then broke the duo out of their gaze. Casey turned her head and saw none other than her best friend standing there, smiling wickedly at her.

"Were you two just fighting?" Emily asked, though from her tone of voice she obviously already knew the answer. Casey's heart rate sped up. She was busted now, wasn't she? "Is the peace over?"

"Not entirely," Derek answered, looking back over to Casey with a faint grin and soft eyes. He then shook his head, snapping himself out of it. "I guess I'll leave you both to your girl stuff…"

He nodded goodbye to them both before walking away.

"Okay," Emily started, a knowing smile set on her face. "So I guess I won the bet, eh?"

Casey groaned. "Yes," she admitted begrudgingly. "Last night during dinner he threw a roll at me and I snapped!"

Emily chuckled at the mental image. "I will never understand you two," she commented lightly, shaking her head. "Maybe I'll feel charitable enough when we go to the mall this weekend and buy you something anyway. You almost made it."

"Almost," Casey stressed dejectedly. She really had wanted to win that bet, not just for the material gain, but just to show that she could.

"So you guys went back to your flirtatious bickering and upped the eye-sex. Something else happened last night, didn't it?" Emily acquired, showing off her remarkable ability to read people so well.

Casey bit her lip sheepishly as she ducked her head in slight embarrassment and flushed a bright pink.

Emily squealed and latched onto Casey's arm. "Details! Details!"

Casey chuckled at her best friend's behavior. "We just talked," she began as she started to walk down the hallway to her locker, Emily close on her heels. "We talked about why I ran away at the arena…and about our feelings…" That induced another high-pitch squeal from Emily.

"And was there some lip-locking somewhere in-between all this talking?" Emily asked excitedly curious.

Casey nodded sheepishly, while massively flushing as she remembered back on the make-out session in the bathroom. There was no exaggeration to the school's gossip about Derek's kissing skills.

Emily shrieked once again in happiness for her friend. "I'm so happy for you!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Casey's shoulders and giving her a suffocating hug. "And jealous!"

Casey stilled in her best friend's arms and slowly stepped back from Emily's embrace. "Em, do you still like Derek? Because if you do…"

"Oh, no, no," Emily quickly assured. "I'm jealous in the sense that you have a drop-dead gorgeous guy completely head-over-heels for you," she continued. "I promise!"

Casey immediately let out a sigh of relief. "Just making sure," she said, trying to laugh it off, but really it was a huge weight off her chest. Casey didn't know how she could have dealt with dating Derek if she knew Emily would have been hurting the entire time.

"And Derek is not head-over-heels for me…." Casey expressed doubtfully. Sure, he may like her, but most of it was probably on a superficial level.

Emily opened her mouth to say something but then the warning bell rang, signally they should all head to their homerooms. "I guess I better go," Emily expressed lamentingly. "But we're continuing this later."

Casey smiled. "Definitely," she promised.


	15. Chapter 15

"So you told Emily," Derek whispered into Casey's ear as he took the seat behind her in their first shared class.

Derek watched as Casey comically jumped in her seat from the surprise. He chuckled.

"Did you talk to Emily?" Casey curiously wondered, turning in her seat to look at Derek.

"No," Derek replied simply. "But I think the whole school heard her squealing this morning, and I could only guess what from…"

"She sorta guessed," Casey shyly admitted. "And you know me, I can't lie."

"Yeah, that's an understatement. We're going to have to work on your lying capabilities too," Derek pointed out.

Casey rolled her eyes, but soon her demeanor morphed from annoyed to content. She smiled softly. "It _was_ nice to tell someone about us, though," she disclosed quietly.

Derek couldn't help but beam. It was comforting that she at least told someone. He was starting to feel that she was ashamed or embarrassed to be with him, but maybe she really did have her reasons for wanting to keep things a secret for now.

He understood that things happened relatively quickly between them and he didn't want her to feel overwhelmed with everything. But damn, Derek just wanted to be able to show her off already. Stepsister or not, she was the smartest and hottest girl in their school. He had practically pined over her the past couple years and it was frustrating that when he finally had her – something that he never thought would ever happen – he still felt like he didn't.

He said he understood, but it didn't mean he liked it.

"Since you told Emily, can I tell Sam?" Derek asked. If she honestly trusted Emily – the school's gossip – with their relationship, she could surely trust Sam.

"Of course."

Derek nodded. "Great, because he kinda…already knows…" he confessed, wincing.

"What?!" Casey panicked. "Der-ek! I said to not tell anyone!"

"You told Emily!" he countered. "You broke your rule too!"

"I told you, she guessed."

"Well, I told Sam before I knew you wanted to keep it a secret from everyone," Derek declared. It was slightly embarrassing that once he went to his room the previous night that Derek had called his best friend to tell him about the recent development, like all those girls in chick flicks seem to do.

Casey sighed. "Alright, it's fine. It's just Sam. Just let him know that we're not telling people yet."

"I see him next period. I'll tell him then," Derek said.

"Don't forget," she prodded sternly. Derek rose his hands up in submission, conveying that he wouldn't.

"You better get to your seat," Casey then spoke. "Mr. Leggat will be here soon."

"I was actually thinking about sitting right here today," Derek replied, pointing to the desk he was currently occupying

"You hate the front," Casey said matter-of-factly.

Derek shrugged. "Just like you need help with your keener-isms and lying, I need to do better in school. Baby steps, right?"

"Right…" Casey agreed warily, unconvinced. "Just don't distract me."

…

"DER-EK!" Casey yelled as she shuffled out of the classroom. "I am going to kill you!" she continued as she walked right up to him, poking him in the chest.

"Sorry," Derek weakly apologized, laughing too much for it to be taken sincerely. "I just couldn't help it."

Casey scoffed as she began to walk away, picking out the spit balls Derek had spent most of the class period catapulting into her hair as she did.

"Case," he called, jogging up next to her. She ignored him. "Will you just stop for a sec?"

Casey continued on. Derek rolled his eyes at her theatrics. But as she rounded near the main staircase, Derek quickly grabbed the crook of Casey's arm and pulled her under the steps to a small alcove that no one bothered to ever venture back to.

"Derek, what are you-" Casey began to say, but was cut off as Derek swiftly kissed her.

"I'm sorry," Derek breathed earnestly when he broke away from the kiss.

Casey took a step back from Derek, shaking her head. "You can't just do stuff like that and expect a kiss to make it all better, Derek," she retaliated. "Do you even realize how much you humiliate me sometimes?"

Derek swallowed nervously. Would she hate him if he answered honestly on this? "I-I never mean to hurt you. Really."

"Well then why do you do it?" she questioned, pleadingly.

Derek let in a quick intake of breath. He turned around in the area, thrusting his fingers through his hair worryingly. How was he supposed to explain this? At least, explain it so she didn't think he was some love-sick puppy.

"Derek," she prodded.

"What do you want me to say, Case? It's become a habit to piss you off," he confessed. Casey opened her mouth to say something, but Derek cut her off, continuing before she could yell at him some more. "I piss you off partly to get your attention, okay?"

"Partly?" Casey dryly wondered.

"And partly because you're hysterical-looking when you get angry – with your face all red, teeth clenched, and eyes bulging. You look like a constipated hamster."

"This is really warming my heart here," Casey fumed sarcastically, peeved. She turned to leave, but Derek stepped in her way.

"Case," he let out beseechingly. "You know I'm not good with this…f-f-feeling stuff. But you have to know that I'm _trying_."

He really was. In that small portion of his mind that let him think he had a chance with Casey, he promised himself that if she would ever have him, he would try his damn hardest to give her everything he could.

Casey looked up at him thoughtfully. He could tell that half of her wanted to forgive him, while the other half was probably imagining him on a stake.

"I'll tone down the pranks," Derek promised. "Especially ones that could embarrass you in-front of a lot of people." He then lifted his hand to her hair to pick out a piece of wadded up paper she had missed. "I'm sorry."

"Okay," she whispered faintly. "But I swear, Derek, if you do something like this again…"

"What?" he wondered cockily, stepping closer to her so that he could wrap his arms around her waist. He wanted to get this back to familiar territory and as far away from mushy-mush feelings as soon as possible. "You're going to ditch this greatness?"

Casey snorted, rolling her eyes, but she let him hold her. She placed her own hands around his neck.

"And you know I also like to piss you off because you look so incredibly hot when you're angry," he murmured as he used the tip of his nose to trace down her neck.

"So, you think constipated hamsters are hot?" she joked, but shivered from Derek's contact.

"Let's just say that you're an exception," he remarked, smirking down at her alluringly before kissing her once again.

…

Derek tried to inconspicuously sneak into his next class, but from the disdain look his Economics teacher gave him as he settled into his seat, it made him think he didn't succeeded. Derek shrugged. If the teacher wasn't going to say anything, neither was he.

"Did you take a Casey detour?" Derek then heard someone whisper next to him. Derek turned to his left and saw Sam grinning teasingly.

Derek raised an eyebrow at him questionably. "How did you know?"

Laughing, Sam pointed to Derek's lips. "You still got some of her lip-gloss all over."

Derek speedily took the sleeve of his shirt to get rid of the evidence. "Heh, well I guess then that was obvious."

"How did you manage to get Casey to be late to class?" Sam mused humorously.

"Obviously because I'm irresistible, Sammy," Derek replied, puffing out his chest. Though that obviously wasn't how it happened.

They had been kissing in their little hide-out for a couple minutes, when suddenly Casey broke it off, asking why the halls got so quiet. Derek told her that most people were probably in class, considering that the bell rang a few minutes ago. With that, she quickly sprang apart from Derek, glaring at him lightly while she took out her compact mirror from her bag to fix up her appearance.

She didn't reprimand him though, probably because he told her that he thought she heard the bell too but was willing to be a little late. Though knowing Casey, Derek should have realized that his thought sounded atrocious, but her lips made his brain mushier than usual.

Sam laughed as much as he could in class. "Nice to see the dynamic between you two doesn't change."

"About that," Derek began nervously. "You didn't mention me and Case to anyone yet, right?"

Sam furrowed his brow. "No…" he replied, trailing off. "Don't tell me she broke up with you already because you made her late to class."

Derek chuckled. "No, no. Jeez! It's just that…we're not telling people about us just yet. So can you keep it on the down low for now?"

"Of course," his best friend promised. "It's weird though, I thought you'd be gloating about it instead of keeping it a secret."

Derek turned his attention to the front of the room, biting his lip.

"Oh...this is Casey's idea?" Sam inquired.

"It's only temporary," Derek inputted optimistically. "She said she needs time."

Sam looked at him for a good moment, seemingly studying him. "You okay with this?"

Derek forced himself to smile. "Of course! Like I said, it's temporary."

Sam gave him a disbelieving look.

Derek sighed, pensive. "Sam, I actually have her. She's willing to be with me. Why rock the boat?"

…

When Derek stepped into the lunchroom later that day, Emily and Casey were already at their usual table, talking animatedly among themselves. Casey must have felt his eyes on her for she made eye contact back with him. She smiled brightly in his direction and it was infectious.

After getting his lunch, Derek sat down at Casey's table, across from her. Sam had joined the group by then too.

"You haven't asked her to be your girlfriend?!" Emily immediately whisper-shouted at Derek once he was seated, swatting him lightly in the shoulder.

Derek leaned out of the way from his crazy neighbor. "Why do people like to hit me?" he playfully whined.

"You just have one of those faces, D," Sam answered, and the whole table erupted in laughter.

"And I did, kinda, technically, ask her," Derek pointed out in-between bites. "She just didn't think it was eloquent enough."

"You never once said 'will you be my girlfriend?'" Casey countered. "That's all I wanted."

Derek put down what he was eating and swallowed what was left in his mouth. "Casey," Derek started, "will you be my girlfriend?"

Emily squealed in delight, and seriously, she needed to find another way to express her happiness. Soon.

Casey smiled, but it slowly turned into a smirk. "Cute. But you're going to have to do something more _eloquent_ now," she explained.

"Oh really?" Derek inquired with up-turned lips and a smoldering gaze. Casey nodded her head, staring at him with the same amount of intensity as he was.

"You guys are not allowed to sit across from each other anymore," Emily butted in, breaking them from their stare-down. Sam nodded along in his agreement.

Derek chuckled. "And why is that?"

"You look like you're ready to tear each others clothes off any second now," Emily quipped. "Go find a janitor's closet or something."

Derek watched as Casey blushed.

"You up for it, Case?" he asked, knowing it would only make her blush grow deeper; he wasn't disappointed.

Casey kicked his shin underneath the table. "Der-ek!" she quietly shrieked, still very embarrassed.

"Ow!" Derek exclaimed, reaching down to rub the offended area. "Again with the violence. It was just a suggestion!"

…

"So, who are the Leafs going against tonight?" Casey asked as she came out of the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn in her hands.

"Tampa Bay Lightning," Derek answered, trailing after her with their drinks.

"Are they good?" Casey inquired as the duo both settled down on the couch, sitting closely together.

"They are terrible," Derek commented. "They were last place last season and they aren't looking any better this year."

"That _is_ terrible," Casey agreed. "How can you have a team filled with professional athletes that perform so badly?"

Derek shrugged to Casey's question as he intently watched the first face-off of the game. "Beats me."

They watched the game in reasonable silence until Casey murmured, "How can they do that? It looks so hard."

"Do what? Skate?" Derek asked incredulously.

"No," Casey quickly answered. "Well, yes. Skating backwards, I mean though. I'm pretty sure I'd just fall on my butt."

Derek chuckled as he envisioned it. "Yes, Klutzilla would definitely rise again."

"Der-ek!" she shouted, throwing a few pieces of popcorn at him.

"It isn't that hard, Case. You just have to be aware of your surroundings."

"And you need balance," she persisted.

"You're a freakin' dancer!" he exclaimed, "So, you obviously can harness _some_ balance."

Casey opened her mouth to say something more, but got distracted by something that was happening on the screen. "Wait, isn't that icing?" Casey asked after witnessing someone on the Leafs shoot the puck from their zone to the opposing team's zone.

"The Leafs are down a man because of the penalty call a minute ago," Derek explained. "So, when one team is shorthanded, the shorthanded team is allowed to ice the puck in order to help kill off the penalty."

"Oh, that seems fair," Casey mused.

Derek nodded distractedly, watching as two players from Tampa Bay make their way back down to the Leafs' defensive zone. "No, no, no! Get the puck. Get the puck!"

A siren blared from the TV, indicating that the Lightning had scored.

"Dammit!" Derek shouted at the same time Casey cheered.

The shaggy haired boy quickly turned his head to his stepsister. "What are you cheering about? The other team scored. We're the blue today!" he spluttered.

"I know," Casey asserted. "I wanted to root for the underdog tonight."

"You're unbelievable," Derek muttered. "You obviously have no loyalties."

Casey rolled her eyes. "Plus, the guy who scored was pretty cute. What was his name? Stamkos?"

"He's just a rookie who probably won't do anything special in his career," Derek sneered. He knew she was purposely trying to rile him up, but he couldn't stop himself from rising to the bait.

"Aww, are you jealous Derek?" Casey cooed, reaching up to pinch his cheeks.

"What are you? My Aunt Madge?" he hollered as he swatted away her hands. "And I don't get jealous!"

Casey smirked. "Just like you're not sweet either?"

"Exactly."

Casey snorted. "Then I guess you won't mind if I go get a Stamkos jersey, since he's _obviously_ my favorite forward now. Ooh, then maybe the next time Tampa Bay is in town, I'll go to Toronto and track him down so we can eventually get married and live happily ever after."

Derek pushed Casey down onto the couch, grunting unfavorably at the idea. "You've gone too far, McDonald," he said with a playful grin, before he began to tickle Casey unrelentingly.

Casey squealed in laughter. "Der-Derek…stop!" she pleaded in-between laughs.

Chuckling, Derek did as she wished.

"Yeah, you don't get jealous at all," Casey drawled sarcastically.

Derek sighed. "Maybe I get a _little_ jealous," he confessed, holding his index and thumb finger a few centimeters apart.

Casey giggled, shaking her head at Derek's ways.

Derek smiled goofily down at her before he leaned down to slide his lips over Casey's. She quickly reciprocated and Derek was in a world of peppermint coated lips with a dash of salt from the popcorn they had been both eating previously.

Casey's hands wound around his neck, her hands digging into his hair. Derek's one hand trailed down her thigh as he placed his other near her back.

"I'm your favorite forward, right?" Derek huskily mumbled as he moved his lips to the base of Casey's throat.

Casey laughed. The vibrations tickled Derek's lips as he peppered kisses up her neck. "Sure, hot shot," she breathily replied.

Derek smiled as he kissed along her jawline. "Just as long as I'm number one," Derek commented right before kissing Casey's lips once again.

After only a day into their relationship, Derek could already surmise that he _loved_ kissing Casey. Her lips were always as soft as a pillow, and when she would finally open her mouth – like she was doing right now – her tongue swirled in such ways that made him want to build a chapel in her honor.

Both their bodies clung to the other, needing and wanting the warmth that was radiating off of both of them. The hand that had traveled down Casey's leg earlier was making its passage back up, stopping only when a couple of his fingers dipped under her shirt. The sudden sensation of his fingers on her bare skin enticed a small moan that reverberated in Derek's ears and set an arousal throughout his body (especially in one place in particular).

Encouraged by Casey's sounds, Derek let his hand continue upwards. It was only when his fingers reached the outer lining of her bra that Derek felt Casey stiffen underneath him and become unresponsive.

Slowly, Derek leaned back from Casey, worry etched into his features as he gazed down at her flushed face. "Case, you alright?"

Casey sat up from the couch, forcing Derek further back. "We shouldn't be doing this. Someone could walk in any second and see us," Casey spoke.

"Case, we're fine," Derek said, trying to placate her. "My dad and Nora are still at that dinner with those people from his firm, and the kids are upstairs doing their homework."

Casey shook her head. She was being beyond paranoid.

"Then let's head upstairs," Derek suggested cheekily, grabbing one of Casey's hands as if to whisk her away.

"What? And miss your precious hockey game?" Casey said teasingly, but she retracted her hand.

"One on one time with you over-exceeds hockey any day," Derek admitted. Casey's eyes softened. "Plus, I think they just went on intermission, so we've got like 20 minutes before anything happens again." Casey rolled her eyes.

"Let's just stay on the safe side and act like normal for right now. The kids could still walk in on us upstairs," Casey pointed out.

"Would it really be that terrible if people found out we were dating?" Derek angrily wondered. He immediately cursed under his breath; he hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"I don't think anyone wants to find out we're dating by seeing us making out with your hand up my shirt!" Casey whispered harshly.

Derek bowed his head guiltily, realizing that she was right about that.

"It's just…" Derek began, but trailed off, not knowing how to express this. He just wanted answers. "I know you said needed time, but does any of this secret, sneaking around stuff have to do with me being your stepbrother? Are you ashamed of me or something?"

Casey's eyes widened in surprise. "No, no, no!" she immediately expressed. "Derek, I'm not ashamed of you or scared to tell people because you're my stepbrother. Honestly, the thought barely crossed my mind. I even think our parents would be open-minded enough to let us date. It's just that, you know me, I like to plan. I want to feel like I have all the things that can be controlled, under my control before we tell people."

"Okay," Derek nodded, feeling a tad better from her explanation. He grabbed her hands in his, squeezing them reassuringly. He opened his mouth to say something more, but stopped when he heard the front-door jiggle. Casey looked over at Derek pointedly, her eyes screaming 'told you so'.

The two teens sprung apart so that when George and Nora entered the house a moment later, Casey was sitting on the far side of the couch away from the door, while Derek was in his recliner.

"Hey, kids," Nora greeted the duo with a wide smile as she hung up her coat.

George shook his head in disbelief at the sight. "You two peacefully watching TV together is still throwing me for a loop," he said, chuckling.

Both of the parents then sat down on the couch, sitting closest to their respective child. They began talking about the dinner from hell, making Derek irritably sigh. Hopefully whenever they decide to tell the rents about them, their parents would be kind enough to take a hint and leave them in peace.


	16. Chapter 16

Walking out of her room the next morning, Casey was instantly snatched and pulled backwards. She let out a tiny yelp of surprise, but contained herself quickly as she realized who her captor was.

Derek dragged her to his bedroom, pushing her body against the door to shut it.

He smirked down at her mischievously before kissing her soundly.

"Derek," Casey spoke after the kiss ended. "I haven't even brushed my teeth yet."

"Yeah, I know," he said, waving his one hand under his nose, as if her breath was horrendous. He then smiled down at her before giving her another peck.

"Is that your way of saying my morning breath isn't bad?" she hopefully wondered.

"No, it is pretty terrible," Derek quipped comically. Casey swatted him on the chest and pouted even though she knew he was only kidding to a degree. "But I have a sort of immunity to bad breath after some of the girls I've kissed over the years. Especially after," and then Derek cringed, "Anchovy Ann."

"Anchovy Ann?" Casey asked amusingly with a quirked eyebrow.

"7th grade. Spin-the-bottle. The bottle landed on my friend's cousin, Ann. When I kissed her, her breath smelled like she just ate a grocery store's worth of anchovies." Derek shuttered at the memory.

Casey fell into a fit of giggles.

"Hey, don't laugh at my scarring experiences," he playfully threatened. The threat was obviously weak not only by his tone, but by the light kisses he was peppering down her neck. "You should be grateful, actually," he murmured against the base of her throat.

Casey swallowed heavily at the sensation. "Derek, I really need to get ready for school."

Derek raised his head to look up at her. "Just another minute or so?" he asked as he took one of his hands to caress her face.

"What if someone comes in?" she asked, but titled her head into Derek's hands.

"That's why you're against the door," he answered simply.

"Der-ek," she let out softly. Her lips involuntarily quirking into a smile. "Just being in here would raise questions."

Derek sighed, stepping back from Casey. "You're right."

Casey frowned. She didn't know why Derek was so bothered by the idea of them being a secret. She figured he would have loved it. He would be able to make-out with her without denting his reputation that way. But maybe it was a possession thing. Maybe he wanted people, especially the other guys at school, to know that Casey's was Derek's and Derek's alone (though if that was the case, she would promptly smack him upside the head).

"I'll make it up to you," Casey promised.

Derek perked up. "How so? Another session under the stairs?" he wondered, smirking.

"No!" Casey replied adamantly, "I'm not missing any more class time." Derek rolled his eyes. "But…maybe…later tonight when everyone is sleeping…" Casey said shyly.

Derek's eyes widened. "A sexy, secret rendezvous?"

Casey blushed. "Uh, well. If that's what you want to call it," she answered quietly.

Derek chuckled as he cupped her face with both his hands. "Can't wait," he spoke sincerely. He then kissed her chastely, but it felt emotionally intense.

"You better get ready for school. You only have 10 minutes," Derek said, opening his door for her.

Casey furrowed her brows. "10 minutes? I had an hour when I woke up. I wasn't in here that long."

"Yeah, but I messed with your alarm clock so…" he admitted sheepishly, shrugging.

"DER-EK!"

…

It wasn't until Casey got to school and talked to Emily that Casey fully realized what she had just promised Derek.

"Case," Emily spoke, "that invitation has sex implied all over it."

Casey blanched. She really hadn't thought of it like that, but no doubly Derek's thoughts were there.

"But who knows? Maybe he's not thinking of that at all?" Emily tried, sensing Casey's apprehension.

"I need to talk to Paul," Casey mumbled before high-tailing it to her guidance counselor's office.

"Paul?!" Casey hollered out as she swung open his door.

The older man jumped in his seat, causing half of his cup of coffee to splash onto his desk, staining the various papers he had on there.

Casey winced at the display she caused. "Sorry," she apologized.

"It's alright," Paul assured her as he took some napkins that were laying around and tried to soak up the mess. "Sit down," he gestured with a nod of his head, "an entrance like _that_ can only mean you really need to talk."

Casey quickly sat down in her usual chair across from Paul, waiting patiently for him to finish cleaning up the spill.

"Now, Casey," her guidance counselor began, throwing away the coffee embedded napkins. "You seemed very alarmed when you came in. Is everything alright?"

Casey took a deep breath. "Things have actually been really good since I last saw you. Remember that guy I was talking to you about?"

"The one that you thought you almost kissed, but didn't think liked you?"

Casey nodded her head. "Yeah, him. Well, I found out he _does_ like me."

"That's great!" Paul exclaimed gleefully.

"It is," Casey agreed. "And I realized that I really like him back, it's just that…" she paused, not knowing how to describe what she had to say next. "This guy and I…well I might have said something to him earlier today that might have implied that I wanted to go further with him, physically…"

Paul cleared his throat, managing to only look mildly uncomfortable. "And you don't want to go that far with him," he asked, but it came out more as a statement.

Casey looked down at her feet, embarrassed at having to talk to Paul about her personal life in such a manner. "I mean, maybe someday…in the future, but right now? No."

"Casey, you should talk to this boy and express your boundaries," Paul advised.

"I know, but what if he decides I'm too much of a prude for him? I mean, I'm self-conscious enough about this stuff."

Paul folded his hands over each other as he regarded her. "Do you really think Derek would do that?"

She sighed. "No," she confessed. Casey's eyes then grew wide as she finally grasped what Paul just asked. "Did you say Derek? I never said the guy was Derek?!"

Paul's eyes widened too. "Did – Did I say Derek?" he asked nervously, loosening the tie around his shirt. "Must have been a slip of the tongue."

"Paul," Casey spoke resolutely.

He cracked. "Okay, okay! So, I might have had a hunch that it was Derek this whole time…"

Casey buried her head into her hands as she groaned.

"Casey, it's alright," he said, trying to placate the teenage girl. "Continue with what you were saying."

Casey nodded. "No, I don't think Derek would do that, but he was upset last night after I had us stop," she continued, then paused replaying the scene in her head. "Though, I guess he was more upset over the fact that I kinda brought up us keeping our relationship a secret again, now that I think about it."

Paul furrowed his eyebrows confusingly. "You want to keep your relationship a secret? Why?"

Casey bit her lip. "I don't know," she let out softly. "I just feel scared."

"Of what your parents and peers will think of your relationship?" Paul supplied curiously.

Casey shook her head. "Oddly enough, I'm not worried so much about that," she confessed. "But things have happened so quickly that I feel so confused too. This time last week I wouldn't have thought I would feel this way towards Derek. And before last week, I never thought Derek showed any signs of liking me…"

"You are feeling a little overwhelmed, it's understandable," Paul told her calmly.

"And telling people is only going to add to this feeling and I want to feel like I have my own thoughts in check before bringing in other people," Casey continued. "And then I feel like we're not going to even last long enough, so why bother telling anyone anyway?"

"Why don't you think you are going to last long?" her counselor wondered.

Casey's lower lip trembled. "Because he's _Derek Venturi_. He's not exactly known for his long, monogamous relationships. Once the thrill of being with the stubborn, somewhat forbidden girl under his roof wears off, he'll break it off with me."

"Have you told Derek these concerns?" Paul asked calmly.

She chuckled mirthlessly. "Like I could tell him half of that stuff."

"Casey, relationships require lots of open and honest communication," Paul advised.

"I know," Casey said quietly. She did know. So many of her magazines' articles said as much too. She was just scared that by voicing these concerns of hers that Derek would ditch her sooner rather than later. "I know."

…

"Hey, pretty lady," a voice whispered into her ear.

Startled, Casey fell backwards in her seat and fell to the ground.

Derek chuckled as he helped Casey back up. "Or should I say, pretty _klutzy_ lady," he murmured, taking a seat next to her at their lunch table.

Casey glared over at her stepbrother. "That was all your fault!"

"Are you okay?" he questioned, looking her over for any injury. Casey nodded. "Then I can live with it," he then said cheekily.

"Der-ek!" she growled out, hitting him lightly on the shoulder.

Derek just laughed some more. "Where is everybody?" he asked once his laughter subsided, noticing that they were the only ones at the table.

"Don't know," Casey answered, but she in fact did. She had asked Emily to stall Sam as long as she could so she could talk to Derek about their rendezvous – as Derek called it – tonight. She was trying to be mature and talk to Derek about this like Paul suggested.

"Hey, Der?" she began. Derek made a noise to indicate that he heard her as she chewed a huge bite of his lunch. "I've been thinking about tonight…and…"

Derek swallowed his food and turned to her brightly. "I know, me too," he said, discreetly putting his hand on her thigh. "I've been thinking about it all day. I can't wait to finally be alone, just you and me."

Her breath hitched at the feel of Derek's hand on her leg. She had on jeans, but the heat was scorching through the material.

"What were you saying though?" he asked, giving her leg a soft squeeze, before rubbing his thumb in circles on her thigh.

Casey bit her lip. She almost didn't want to tell him because he seem so excited and happy about it. But she didn't want to lead him on to the idea of sex either. "Well," she choked out, "you see-"

"D!" a voice roared. Ralph tumbled into the table, making everything on the surface wobble as he took his seat, and Casey couldn't help but picture a bull in a china shop.

"Ralph, what's up? Where the hell have you been?" Derek greeted, moving the hand that was on her leg to give his friend a high-five.

"Flu, dude," Ralph answered somberly. "Sucks majorly."

Casey sighed as Derek began to talk to Ralph. She missed her opportunity to tell Derek, and now she would have to wait until sometime later to tell him. Knowing their household though, who knew when that could be.

…

Like she predicted, Casey still hadn't been able to talk to Derek and it well after dinner time. She couldn't talk to Derek on the way home, since he had to stay after school for hockey practice. She couldn't talk to him when he finally did come home because her mother had already asked her to help with dinner. Then, they had dinner, where she obviously couldn't bring up the topic. She couldn't even talk to him after dinner because Lizzie had asked Casey for help with an upcoming project of hers. And now, nearing 9 o'clock, Derek was in Marti's room trying to get her to fall asleep.

Casey paced back and forth in her room, wondering what she should do. Should she wait for Derek to come to her and then talk to him? Should she wait in his room? Or should she just pretend to be asleep?

Casey bit down on her bottom lip in worry. She didn't want to wait in Derek's room, because what if someone saw her and asked her what she was doing in there? She could pretend to fall asleep before he got there, but knowing Derek he might just wake her up anyway. So, it seems like she will just have to wait until he came to her.

Casey sighed as she collapsed down on her bed. She stretched her neck just enough to view the time. She had at least an hour before Derek would attempt to venture in. Usually by 10:30, the whole household was silent.

Closing her eyes, Casey tried to think of ways to approach the subject to Derek. Should she say it right away, or ease into it? She groaned. Tonight was going to be a disaster.

Just then, Casey felt a weight press down on her bed. She jolted upright, immediately smacking her forehead against Derek's.

"Yoww!" Derek exclaimed, rubbing his forehead.

Rubbing her own forehead, Casey glared up at the brown-eyed boy. "Der-ek! What are you doing in here already?" she whispered shouted. "Lizzie and Edwin could still be up!"

"I checked both their rooms after I was done with Marti; they're all out like a light," he stated. "And I just thought it would be nice to be able to have as much time as we could," he continued, then leaned down so that his lips met contact with her neck.

Casey gasped. Wow, that really felt good.

"Der?" she panted out breathily.

"Shh," Derek shushed her. "I haven't kissed you in over 12 hours and that's kinda all I want to do right now."

With her mind fogged up with his proximity and gravely, sexy voice, she nodded her head along with his idea. It was just kissing, and she too had wanted to kiss him all day long and was craving it.

Derek immediately swooped down and connected their lips. He started with a few short pecks, before they both met with open mouths and let their tongues twist and tease. They maneuvered their bodies slightly to get more comfortable and make sure all of Derek's weight wasn't crushing her.

Derek's right hand traveled down her leg, hoisting it to his hip, while slipping his one leg between her own, leaving their legs a tangled mess. His hands were now on her lower back, while hers were around his neck and in his hair, both of them trying to close any gap between them, if there was any left.

She loved his hair. Strangely enough, it was so soft between her fingers. She especially loved how when she tugged, even the slightest, on a couple of his locks, a deep embedded groan from the back of Derek's throat would escape his lips. She loved knowing she could entice such a reaction from him.

He could obviously entice a whole whirlwind of reactions from her. She's never felt so exhilarated while merely kissing someone as she did with him.

Minutes past as they continued to kiss, before Casey felt a couple of Derek's fingers slip under her shirt one by one. Once his whole hand was under the material, he guided it up her side, stopping only a few inches from her bra.

Apprehension started to form in Casey's stomach as Derek's hand began to feel hotter and hotter on her skin, but everything was feeling too good to want to stop. Derek's hand then cupped her bra covered breast, moving his thumb over her perked nipple through the material. Casey moaned in his mouth as she lifted her hips instinctively, causing herself to grind against Derek's hips and feel just how turned on he had gotten.

That particular moment is what finally brought Casey out of her lustful haze. She immediately tore herself from Derek's lips and pushed him away. "We're not having sex!" she blurted.

Derek was hovering over her, confusion etched on to every part of his face.

Casey threw her hands over her face, already too embarrassed to look at Derek.

"Case?" he let out softly. "Put your hands down and look at me."

She shook her head. Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes. If he was going to break things off between them or call her a prude, why did he have to sound so sweet?

"Case, I didn't come in here tonight to have sex with you," he admitted. That made her peek out from between her fingers.

"You didn't?" she asked hoarsely. Derek shook his head. "So, you don't want to have sex with me?"

Derek chuckled. "Of course I _want_ to have sex with you. I think you felt the proof just moments before," he joked. Casey blushed.

He must have noticed her watery eyes then, since he bent down to kiss each eye-lid. "Don't cry," he pleaded. "There is no reason to cry."

"I'm not ready to be… _physical_ like that yet," she confessed, her lips trembling.

"I know you're not," Derek said while caressing her face. "And there is nothing wrong with that. When you're ready to move things further, you just tell me, okay?"

Casey nodded her head. A whole new, powerful feeling was beginning to bloom in her heart for the boy above her. She wrapped her hands around his neck as she just gazed into his eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.

Derek leaned down to kiss her forehead, letting his lips linger there.

"See?" Casey spoke up. "You _are_ sweet sometimes, Venturi."

Derek groaned, causing Casey to giggle. "Please don't tell me we are going to be talking about this again."

Casey rolled her eyes playfully, shaking her head at his refusal to admit he was sweet.

They laid down in each other's arms, talking quietly among themselves and relishing in each other's closeness.

"You really weren't expecting sex tonight?" Casey shyly asked once a small gap in their conversation occurred.

Her stepbrother shook his head. "No. I just wanted to lay down like this and hopefully get to kiss you senseless for an hour or so," he admitted sheepishly. "We kinda don't get many opportunities to just be a normal couple, you know?"

She instantly felt guilty. Maybe the reason Derek didn't want to be a secret was because he simply wanted to treat their relationship as normal as they could.

Casey let her hand wander up his chest. "You still need to ask me to be your girlfriend," she jokingly pointed out.

Derek laughed. He caught the hand that was on his chest with his own and intertwined them. "I've been planning it," he said, kissing her knuckles. "Do you having anything planned for Saturday yet?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" she wondered, smiling up at him.

"Yes, I am."

"What are we going to do then?" she curiously asked.

"Nothing is set into stone at this moment, but when it is, I'll tell you," he promised.

"I can't wait," Casey said, straining her neck outwards to kiss him. She could feel him grinning underneath her lips.

And just like that, every worry, doubt and fear she talked to Paul about seemed irrelevant. She couldn't possibly feel any happier right now and in her bones she could sense that Derek was in the same boat as her too.

So with this all in mind, Casey decided that after their date Saturday, she was going to tell Derek that she didn't want them to be a secret anymore either.


	17. Chapter 17

Over the last couple nights, the duo had continued to have little, late-night "rendezvous," and although Derek still hadn't gotten to see Casey's boobs, he was more than content. He was grateful just for the fact that she was allowing him in her bed and letting him touch her anywhere. Though he wouldn't mind being able to finally see her breasts, obviously. He has seen the potential whenever Casey wore a bikini or strutted out of the bathroom in only a towel. He was a boob guy, so naturally he was curious about Casey's. Like just how much of her naked breast would he be able to palm in his hand. Or if they felt as ivory smooth as the rest of her skin.

With a twitch in his jeans, Derek immediately tried to discontinue thinking about such thoughts. Though it was with great difficulty since Casey was currently running her nails over his abdomen as she did a number to his neck.

"You're being quiet," Casey commented lowly as she led small kisses up his jaw. She leaned back to study his face, before reaching out to brush over one of his eyebrows with the pad of her thumb. "What are you thinking?"

"The truth? Or a believable lie that you won't yell at me for?" Derek questioned with a sly smirk drawled across his face.

"Hmm," Casey whirred, raising one eyebrow as she mock-contemplated her answer. "I think I want the truth. Crazy, I know."

Derek chuckled. "Well, to put it simply: I was thinking about your boobs."

She snorted. "I figured," she admitted, slightly amused. "You were staring right at them. Is that honestly all you think about?"

"No," he rumbled out as he pulled her closer to him. "I think about a lot of things."

"Girls, hockey, and food?" Casey guessed dryly. "What a cornucopia of thoughts…"

"Mmm," Derek hummed as he kissed down the side of her face. "I only think about one girl though, and I happen to think about her a lot, and not just about her boobs."

"Oh really? Do tell," the girl requested, smiling curiously up at Derek.

"Well, I think about her ass and her legs," he responded huskily, trailing a hand lightly over the rump of her bottom and down the length of her leg as far as he could reach. "They're sexy as hell."

"Der-ek!" she hollered in a hushed tone, slapping at his chest. "That's not any better!"

Derek laughed, and he could tell Casey was trying her hardest not to laugh as well.

"And I think about how feisty she is," he growled into her ear, "I really like that about her."

An impeccable smile slowly stretched across her face.

"I also think about her eyes," Derek said softly, gazing down into her china-blue orbs. "I also think about how smart she is," he continued, leaning down so both their foreheads touched.

"Of course, I think about her mouth and how it is just so kissable," he voiced, then kissed her lips a few times to demonstrate.

When he pulled back to continue on with his list, Casey instantaneously pulled his head back down to hers. He couldn't help the smile that smugly sprung on to his face. Casey kissing him. Casey initiating said kissing. It was still hard to fathom.

"Can't get enough?" Derek cockily asked when they finally pulled apart.

Casey rolled her eyes, but they were shining and crinkling at the corners. She looked so carefree and happy that it made Derek's eyes soften and his heart constrict. He must be doing something right.

"I'm tired, Der," she mumbled, dropping her head to his chest.

He looked over at her alarm clock and with wide eyes realized it was almost 1am. They both really did need to get some sleep for school tomorrow, although Derek wished he could at least stay there with her. He shook his head. Even if their parents knew about them, they wouldn't take that well.

Slowly extricating himself out from under Casey, he climbed out of her bed. She wasn't yet asleep, but was on the brink of it by the look of her droopy eyes blinking up at him. "Night," she whispered, before closing her eyes and burrowing her head comfortably in her pillow.

Kissing her forehead and lifting her blanket up towards her shoulders, he whispered back, "Night, Case."

…

"What are you smiling about?" Casey amusedly inquired when he took a seat next to her at their lunch table, smiling like he just won the lottery.

"Let's just say that I know for sure what we are doing for our date tomorrow," he beamed as he waved an envelope under her nose.

Casey immediately reached out to grab the envelope, but Derek snatched it out of her grasp. She pouted at the small defeat. "So, where are we doing? I honestly thought you forgot about it, since you haven't said a word since."

"I told you I would tell you when I knew for sure," he defended himself. "It just so happened that I found out the day before," he continued, smirking down at her.

She pursed her lips, obviously not pleased, but her excitement soon over-boiled as a smile popped to the surface. "Well? What are we doing? And when are we doing it?" she asked excitedly.

"Doing it? Doing what? Actually, do I want to know?" Emily voiced as she and Sam sat down to the table, catching only the end of Casey's sentence.

Derek watched Casey blush at Emily's instigation. "Derek was just about to tell me about our date details," she quietly spoke up, embarrassed.

"Oooh!" Emily shrieked, hitting the table elatedly with her hands. "What did you plan?"

"First off," Derek began, looking pointedly at Emily, "can you stop flailing like a damn fish out of water and making pterodactyl screeches when we tell you something? Jeez, woman!"

"Sorry," Emily mouthed, bowing her head down. "I'll try."

"Anyway, I got us tickets," Derek said, holding up the envelope for all of them to see. A commendable source from his days of selling merchandise out of lockers was able to come through for him by scoring last minute tickets. He then threw the object in-front of Casey. "Open it," he encouraged with a rare shy smile.

Casey shot Derek a quick grin before she ripped open the envelope flap and pulled out the tickets. "They're for," she said, taking a moment to actually read the text printed, "the Maple Leafs game."

"A hockey game?!" Emily softly hollered in outrage. "You're going to take her to a hockey game for your first date?!" his neighbor carried on, hitting his arm with a rapid flick.

"What?" Derek asked, throwing his arms in the air defensively. "Is that bad?" he innocently asked, eyes moving from Emily to Casey warily. "I just figured-"

"No, they're perfect, Derek," Casey told him, patting his leg assuringly. "Hockey brought us together in a way, right?"

Derek's lips spread into a wide smile, glad she understood the underlying meaning. "Exactly."

"When is this game then?" Emily wondered. "Because Casey and I were going to go to the mall tomorrow before your date."

"Well, it starts around 7," Derek pointed out. "I was thinking we leave around 3 o'clock tomorrow, so we have enough time to get to Toronto and have some dinner before the game too." He looked over at Casey. "Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah," she answered. "But what are we telling our parents?"

Derek frowned. He hadn't thought about that. "Tell your mom you're hanging out with Emily and I'll say I'm hanging out at Sam's. And our curfew is 1am on weekends now, so hopefully we'll be home by then."

"We're hanging out at Sam's tomorrow?" Ralph chimed in as he sat down with his lunch. "Do you think we could have a Mighty Ducks marathon? I love those movies, man!"

Chuckling, Derek patted his wacky friend on his back. "That's sounds great, Ralphie."

Sam frowned at Derek, while the rest of the table erupted in laughter.

Recovering from her giggles, Casey nodded along to Derek's previous plan. "I guess we could tell our parents that," she spoke, her voice only wavering in the slightest – probably at the fact that she would have to lie to her mother. He discreetly took her hand in his, hoping that it would help put her at ease.

"Hey, Casey," Emily spoke up, "maybe we could still go to the mall tomorrow, just earlier," she offered.

"We could do that," Casey agreed. "We should get there right as it opens." Emily nodded in agreement.

"Then, I guess everything is settled!" Derek exclaimed happily, rubbing his hands together in anticipated satisfaction.

"Not everything," Ralph claimed. "Like, who's bringing the popcorn?"

…

Derek walked into the house that night after hockey practice to find the whole family, minus Casey, sitting around the TV watching a movie and chewing on some pizza.

"Hey, Derek," Nora greeted. "Pizza just came. Help yourself."

Derek nodded to his stepmother as he hung up his leather jacket. "I will. I just want to put my stuff in my room and all," he said, holding up his hockey equipment and backpack. She sweetly smiled as a response before turning back to the movie.

Throwing his heavy bags onto his shoulders, he trudged up the stairs to do just that. But as he reached the hallway outside his room, he heard rustling come from inside his – hopefully soon – girlfriend's room. Hiking an eyebrow and letting a smirk fall into place, Derek threw his bags onto his bed and curiously pushed open Casey's door.

There she was, back to him, with her overnight bag on her bed. Derek leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms as he watched her put some clothes and other essentials into the bag neatly.

"Running away or something?" he abruptly spoke, then laughed when Casey jumped and whirled around in surprise.

"Oh, Derek," she said, holding a hand over her heart in an effort to ease her heartrate from the brief scare. "I wasn't expecting you home so soon. Did the coach cut your practice short tonight?"

Derek leaned himself off of the doorframe. "Yeah. Since we don't have a game this week, he let us off early tonight," he explained, walking into her room and gingerly shutting the door behind him. "So, what's the bag for?" he asked, stepping up to her and coiling his arms around her waist.

Casey looked over her shoulder at her bag, then looked back at him. "Emily and I were talking earlier, and we thought it'd make a lot of sense for me to sleep over her place tonight, so we can get to the mall as early as possible," she shared. She wrapped her arms around his neck and started to play with the hair back there. "You could then pick me up for our date over there – It would feel like a proper date experience!" she added, beaming with excitement.

Derek smiled back. Her excitement was so adorable. "Sounds great." He then frowned as a thought came to mind.

"What?" Casey wondered, studying his face inquisitively.

"I just realized that if you're at Emily's then you won't be here for, you know, our late night meeting," he explained, pouting.

"Aww," Casey cooed out sympathetically, "I'm sorry, really, I am."

"Well…" Derek started off thoughtfully, "Emily still has that tree by her room, right? Do you think she would mind if I stopped by for a few minutes?"

Casey laughed, shaking her head. "Not a chance, hot shot."

"I agree with the 'hot' part," Derek commented simply, rubbing his thumbs over her hips sensually. "You know the whole fam is watching a movie downstairs right now, right?"

"And?" Casey questioned with an upturned eyebrow.

"Well, since you're going to be at Emily's tonight, and rudely won't let me sneak in," he proclaimed, pulling Casey flush up against him, "why don't we have our rendezvous now?"

Casey stepped back from Derek, holding her hand up in an effort to tell him to wait for a moment. He then watched her scurry to her door, promptly locking it. She twirled back around, throwing him a saucy grin as she sashayed her way back to him. His mouth went dry, but he attempted a collective smirk.

"Only for a little bit," she told him firmly as she pushed him back onto her bed and followed.

…

Today was the day. Derek was going to be picking up Casey in just a little bit to head up to Toronto, and he couldn't get the queasy feeling in his stomach to subside. He had spent most of the day running to the bathroom, and not just for grooming purposes.

As he guzzled some more mouthwash, he could only hope that this day would pan out at least a tenth of the way he had it planned in his head. He wanted this night to be as close to perfect for Casey. He had this nice restaurant picked out that they were going to go to, and he was going to give her his Leafs jersey so she could wear it at the game.

After looking at the mirror one more time to adjust a few curls of his hair, he went to his room to grab the tickets and his jacket. Once outside, Derek nervously made his way across the lawn to the Davis's. He knocked on the door hesitantly, swallowing down his apprehension as best as he could.

Mrs. Davis swiftly opened the door with an appeasing smile. "Hello, Derek."

Derek smiled politely back. "Hi, Mrs. Davis. I'm here for Casey."

"They are upstairs in Emily's room if you want to go and fetch her yourself," she said, stepping aside to allow Derek into the house.

Derek nodded along to the idea and walked up the steps, taking the necessary turns to get to Emily's room.

As he approached Emily's bedroom door, he heard them both giggling loudly. He stopped, smirking to himself and wondering if they might be talking about him. Curiously, he leaned his ear against the door to listen.

"Aww, I never knew Derek could be that sweet," he heard Emily gush. Derek scowled, wondering what exactly had Casey mentioned to Emily.

"Yeah, I've been surprised by how sweet he can be sometimes too. He actually seems to listen now!" Casey spoke, and he could hear the sound of paper bags being rummaged through. "I mean, I asked him for the remote yesterday, and he just gave it to me!" she continued in disbelief. "If I had known being with Derek would have garnered these type of benefits, I would have started dating him a long time ago." Both of the girls giggled again.

"I knew the boy was practically head-over-heels for you, Casey. That's why I set up the bet to begin with," Emily confessed, and Derek felt a sense of foreboding settle in his stomach. Bet? What bet?

"Yes, pretending to be nice to Derek ended up being a wonderful thing," Casey said happily. "Thanks, Em."

Derek closed his eyes, feeling like he had been punched in the gut. She was only pretending? She didn't actually like him? He swayed in his spot, feeling lightheaded.

Suddenly the hallway was too narrow and Derek was feeling suffocated in this thin enclosure. He fled down the stairs and ran outside. He took a seat on the bottom step of the Davis's porch and tried to even his breathing.

Derek shook his head. Casey couldn't have ever been in a bet like that. That was nasty and cruel. He couldn't see Casey ever agreeing to do something like that. But upstairs, it seemed that she had been part of a bet that called for her to pretend to like him. Had he finally pushed her to her breaking point, to where she would sacrifice her morals and principles to get back at him?

He thought back on when things between them started changing. Derek had thought it was so out of the blue for her to suddenly stop fighting, and now he knew it was because she had done it because of a bet. And the nights they hung out watching hockey were probably nothing more than a device to get him to open up to her. God, his worst fears of Casey ever finding out about his feelings were coming true. In hindsight, this was probably why she didn't want to tell anyone that they were a couple. Why get serious with someone you didn't even like?

The Davis's front door opened. Derek stood up at the noise and spun around to see Casey still in the doorway. His chest painfully clenched. She looked so beautiful. She was wearing an over-sized cream-colored sweater that made him just want to cuddle her close to him.

He looked away, knowing if he didn't he might do something stupid, like kiss her. But he couldn't. Not after hearing what he did.

"Generally, for dates, you have to ring the bell to beckon the date," Casey playfully teased him, smiling bashfully.

He gave her a wry smile, shoving his hands into his jacket, so she wouldn't see them shaking. He then felt the edge of the hockey game tickets digging into his palm, almost as if to remind him of what was going on. "Um, change of plans," Derek said, staring down at the sidewalk.

Casey's smile slowly melted off her face as she noticed Derek's demeanor. "Derek, what's wrong?"

He almost wanted to laugh. What wasn't wrong?

"The game got cancelled," he lied, beginning to take small steps backwards. He couldn't confront her about what he heard, not yet. He was too vulnerable, and dare he say emotional, right now to have that conversation.

"Oh," Casey spoke up, frowning. "Well maybe we could-"

"I have to go," Derek interrupted her, "Something came up," he continued, lying to her again. He needed to get away.

"Okay," she let out breathlessly, the cold air sending her words over to him.

Without another word, Derek got into the prince and drove, and drove and drove and drove.


	18. Chapter 18

Derek was driving, but for the life of him he had no idea where he was driving to. His whole body was on autopilot as his mind wandered off in thought. He tried to keep his attention focused on the road, but Casey and Emily's conversation kept resurfacing to the forefront of his mind and he couldn't help but dwell on the whole situation at length. He vaguely remembered stopping at the appropriate times and making turns, but he couldn't quite recall how he got to his best friend's house.

Shrugging off how his subconscious apparently worked, Derek parked the prince outside Sam's house.

"Derek?" Sam asked confusingly when he opened his front door. "What are you doing here?"

Derek rolled his eyes as he tried to huddle himself further inside of his jacket. "Nice to see you too, Sammy," Derek quipped. "Can I come in before I freeze my ass off?"

Dumbfounded, Sam stepped aside to let his friend through.

"Dude, Derek, you're here!" Ralph immediately greeted enthusiastically. The guy was currently making his way out of the kitchen while balancing as much junk food and drinks in his arms as he could muster. "I almost thought you weren't going to come! We were just about to pop in the first _Mighty Ducks_ movie!"

"It's not like I had anything better to do today," Derek dryly remarked, which earned him a worried, pointed stare from Sam.

Like most things, Derek's tone went over Ralph's head. "Yeah, 'cause there is nothing better than the Ducks!" the drummer exclaimed, nodding his head excitedly. "Let's go, amigos!" he further said as started for the basement stairs where the main entertainment system was held.

Derek made to follow Ralph, but Sam quickly put himself between the stairs and Derek. "What's going on, Derek?"

He shrugged, while studying the pattern of one of the throw rugs Sam's mom was apparently very fond of. "Nothing."

"Derek, this isn't nothing. Why are you here?" Sam asked again, his impatience noted.

"YOU GUYS COMING DOWN?!" Ralph hollered up, making both guys look down the stairwell where Ralph's voice was coming from.

Taking advantage of Sam's momentary distraction, Derek maneuvered himself around his friend and barreled down the stairs to join Ralph and avoid Sam's intruding questions.

…

When Sam finally joined his friends downstairs a few minutes later, Derek could tell he was not pleased by Derek's cowardice behavior. He took a seat next to Derek on the couch as Derek pretended to be engrossed by the film and ignored his best friend's penetrating gaze.

Sam nudged him halfway through the opening scene. "Come on, Derek. You obviously came here for a reason. Just tell me," he whispered, so Ralph wouldn't overhear.

Derek knew Sam would get the truth out of him eventually, but that didn't mean he wanted to tell anyone anything if he could help it. "I really don't wanna talk about it," Derek whispered back, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"But you're supposed to be on a date with Casey right now," Sam pointed out. "Something obviously happened if you are here rather than with her."

" _Dude_ ," Ralph spoke up, pausing the movie, "You're supposed to be on a date with _Casey_?!"

Derek shot a nervous glance at Sam, before turning back to his other friend. "Uh, well…you see…"

"That's amazing, my man," Ralph proclaimed, slapping a friendly hand on Derek's shoulder. "Took a while to reel her in though, eh?" he joked, wiggling his eyebrows. "But ladies can't say no to Derek Venturi for long, right?"

"Right," Derek rasped out, though Casey might not have been 'reeled' in like he had thought she was.

"Wait…" Ralph began, his face scrunching up in confusion, "if you're supposed to be on a date with Casey right now, what are you doing here?"

"Yeah, Derek," Sam said, eyeing him in that stupid, concerned way, "Why are you here?"

…

"No," Sam let out softly, shaking his head in disbelief. Derek had just told them everything he had heard outside Emily's room. "Casey wouldn't do something like that."

"Yeah, Casey could never be that mean," Ralph agreed. "I mean, you're a pain in the ass sometimes, D, but she wouldn't stoop as low to do something like that."

"Are you sure you heard right?" Sam wondered.

Derek sighed. "I'm positive."

"We're sorry, man," Sam said with Ralph nodding along.

"Shit happens." Derek shrugged as he slouched down on the couch. This get-together had quickly transformed into a pity party, and Derek couldn't stand it any longer. "Can we watch the movies now?"

He saw Ralph and Sam share a look. "Sure, D," Ralph conceded, and hit the play button on the remote to resume the film.

…

Wordlessly and almost silently, the trio watched all the movies in the _Mighty Ducks_ trilogy. Though for the five-plus hours they were watching the movies, he knew his friends were watching him more, like he was going to simultaneously combust or cry any second.

After the credits to the last movie ended, Derek stood up to leave. He appreciated his friends' concern for him, but he got in his car that afternoon to get away from his feelings and they were not helping.

Driving in his car, he knew it was too early to go home yet. It was only 10, so everyone but Marti could still be up. He'd just have to drive around for a couple more hours until he felt it was safe enough to venture home. So he drove to the edge of town and then back, all the while thinking about all things Casey. Casey and him together. Casey and dancing. Casey and school. Casey and Emily talking. Casey and bets!

Derek pulled over to the side of the road about 10 minutes from his house. Once the car was parked, he hit the steering wheel in frustration a few times, trying to will the prickly sensation starting in his eyes to go away.

He breathed out a few haggard breaths in an effort to control himself. He felt so fucking betrayed and used. He felt like a damn fool. He was pathetic. He had finally gotten the guts to open up and start showing his feelings for her only for Casey to hollow him out like jack-o-lantern.

He knew Casey could have the power to really hurt him – destroy him, even. Derek just never thought that she would.

…

The house was pitch black when Derek finally stepped inside the front door, which was expected considering it was half past 1am. Listening intently, he couldn't hear any movement throughout the home, so presumably everyone was fast asleep, like he had wanted.

Derek quietly climbed the steps to the upstairs, similar to the numerous times before when he came home after curfew. However, the adrenaline he usually had in this scenario was lacking, if not obsolete. Maybe because this time he wasn't coming home from a _long_ date or hiding his stale breath from the alcohol he consumed at a party.

Walking down the hallway towards his room, he looked cautiously over towards Casey's. There was no light coming from under her door. Derek released a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding and his whole body relaxed under the comforting thought that he wouldn't have to face Casey tonight.

He knew he was going to have to face Casey _eventually_ – most likely tomorrow – but hopefully by then he'd feel more composed and less like the She-Hulk PMSing. Besides, this gave him more time to come up with what to say to Casey.

He slowly opened his door, but froze in the doorway when he saw Casey sitting patiently on the edge of his bed. He tried to swallow down the growing trepidation inside of him, but it kept rising. "What are you doing here?" he asked, and hoped his voice didn't sound as shaky to her ears as it did to his. He closed his door just in case more ears and eyes were lurking.

"Waiting for you," she answered simply. She stood up from his bed, but didn't make a step to get closer to him. "Where were you?"

"Out," he stated offhandedly, shoving his hands inside his jeans pockets. He hoped his actions all came across as nonchalant because in all actuality his hands were trembling and his heart was beating too loud in his ears to hear himself speak.

"Out?" she repeated with a tinge of annoyance coloring it. "That's all you have to say?"

Derek shrugged. It's not like he really owed her an explanation.

Casey groaned out in frustration. "Why are you acting like such a pompous jerk?"

Derek grinded his teeth. "Sorry if I'm not one of those stupid Ivanwho guys who bow down at your every beck and call. This is me _, baby_."

"Don't call me that," she hollered, though not loud enough to wake their siblings, "especially after you lied to me tonight! How do you think I felt when I walked in on George watching the hockey game that was supposedly cancelled?"

Derek scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, _I'm_ the huge liar here. It's a good thing some sense knocked back into me or else I might have made a big mistake tonight with you."

She looked at him bewildered. "What are you saying?" she whispered softly.

"That this is over!" Derek stated, his voice thick with emotion. He tore his gaze away from Casey and shouldered passed her to get to his stereo, where he pretended to look for a CD.

"Why are you doing this? I thought you liked me," he heard Casey ask behind him. Derek tensed, because not only did she sound frustrated, she sounded hurt. This was not how he pictured this conversation going, but it was too late to go back now. Plus, she was probably just upset because he wasn't playing into her hand anymore.

Derek closed his eyes as he strained to keep his breathing even. He couldn't look at her. Even with the knowledge of what she did to him, there was a strong part of Derek that wanted to forget everything that he heard and hold her and kiss her. He hated how much of a masochist he sounded.

He hated how he wanted to fix this, but could he actually forgive her for doing this to him? They were having a good time though, right? And he couldn't have imagined all the looks she gave him, and she certainly wouldn't have been able to lie that skillfully all the time. But thinking back, he just realized that she had never told him that she liked him. Not even once.

"Just go, Casey," Derek said, defeated. He had no will to fight with her anymore.

He heard her let out a long sigh, but soon after his door opened then closed. She was gone.


	19. Chapter 19

Walking briskly to her room, she didn't bother to turn on the lights or change into her pajamas as she submerged herself deep within her covers. A sob hiccupped out her mouth, which released the steady stream of tears to glide down her face.

She had to get out of there. Usually she had more spunk in her to demand the answers she was looking for, but hearing him essentially break up with her, and doing it so stoically and indifferently, was too much for her to handle. She wasn't going to allow him the pleasure of seeing her cry over him.

She knew Derek went through girls like water, so why would she be any different? But for a second, one stupid second, she thought she was different for some reason.

Blindly reaching towards her nightstand, she finally grasped her cellphone. She then quickly dialed a very familiar number.

"Casey?" the voice drowsily wondered when they picked up the phone. "Why are you calling me at 2 o'clock in the morning?"

"Em," Casey choked out before another sob fumbled out of her mouth.

"Casey? Casey, what's wrong?" Emily quickly asked, her voice up and alert.

"Derek…Derek called it all off," she whispered, her voice thick with tears.

"What?" Emily breathlessly let out in disbelief. "Why? What happened?"

"I don't know," she stated miserably. "Everything was fine until now. What would make him lie about the hockey game being cancelled? What-What did I do?"

"Casey, you didn't do anything. This isn't your fault," Emily told her best friend. "Obviously something is wrong with Derek and he's going about it all wrong. Try talking to him tomorrow. Maybe he'll cool down some overnight and explain things."

Casey sighed. "What if he doesn't want to talk to me?"

"You are always more than welcomed to come over my place."

Casey smiled to herself. "Thanks, Em. And sorry for waking you up at such an early hour," she apologized.

"Hey, don't worry about it! That's what best friends are for," Emily quickly assured. "Try to get some sleep now."

"I'll try," Casey said, but she already knew that it would be a difficult task.

…

"Derek," Casey called out as she knocked on his door gently the next day.

When she didn't get a response, she leaned her head against the wood to try and hear what was going on in there. "Derek?" she called out again. Casey knew he was in there. Edwin had just left his room a few minutes ago.

A squeak was then heard, as if he had gotten out of his desk chair. Her heart pounded, hoping he was finally going to answer her. But instead his loud rock music reverberated through the door.

Casey closed her eyes in defeat as she sighed. He wouldn't be able to hear her knocking now even if he wanted to.

"What are you doing?" a voice wondered.

Casey jumped in her spot and whirred around. "Oh!" she let out, surprised. "What are you doing, Edwin?"

"Derek wanted me to get him some food," Edwin answered, holding up the plate. "Now my question: what are you doing?"

"Trying to talk to your brother," she admitted sadly. "But that's obviously not going really well," she continued, gesturing to the locked door and loud music.

"What happened between you two?" Edwin asked curiously.

"I don't know," Casey whispered.

"It had to be something bad, because I got to tell you, I haven't seen him this miserable since our parents got divorced," Edwin admitted.

Casey bit her lip as she stared ahead at Derek's door. She wished she could see through it. Things weren't adding up. Why would Derek break up with her if it was making him – both of them – miserable? She needed to talk to Emily about this. Maybe she could make some sense of it.

"I'll see you later, Edwin," Casey said, beginning to make her way towards the stairs. "But tell me if he says anything to you about this?"

Edwin lolled his head side to side, pretending to think. "I might be able to arrange something if he talks."

Casey nodded her head graciously before hurrying down the stairs and out the door to Emily's house.

"He wouldn't talk to you?" Emily sympathetically asked as she opened her door wider to let Casey enter her home.

"No," Casey answered lamentably as she took a seat on one of the couches in the living room. "He's avoiding me. He's been in his room most of the day, playing his music loud and ordering Edwin to get him things."

Emily took a seat next to her best friend, rubbing Casey's back in an effort to comfort the distressed girl. "I guess he's still upset about whatever is troubling him. But he'll come around, I know it."

Casey forced a smile at Emily's optimism, but it quickly faltered as her lip trembled. "I spoke to Edwin before I came over," Casey began, "and he said he hasn't seen Derek this miserable since George and Abbey got divorced. But why would he be miserable? He's the one that ended it."

"If he's miserable like Edwin says, then he must have broken up with you because he felt like he had no other choice," Emily theorized.

Casey shook her head. "Maybe this is a sign that we – that we shouldn't be together. I mean, we couldn't even last long enough to go on our first date," Casey admitted miserably.

"Hey," Emily began, pulling Casey to her in a hug. "Derek is just being dumb right now. He's probably confused or something."

Casey pinched her eyebrows inward. "But why?"

"I don't know yet, but we will," Emily stated, staring straight at her friend with a heavy sense of determination. "We'll figure this out. I promise."

…

"So…what's the game plan?" Casey asked her best friend as she watched Emily quickly glance around the corner of the hallway at school the next day.

"Alright," Emily started, before turning back to Casey. "Derek is talking to Sam at his locker. Now from what you told me about Derek's actions this morning, he's still not the tiniest bit over whatever he's upset about. So he's going to flee the second he sees you."

Casey frowned. It was probably true though. By the time she got back from Emily's the day before, Derek had apparently called in for an early night. Then that morning, he hadn't even left a trace that he had gotten up except for the fact that the Prince was gone.

"So, like I said, what is your plan?" Casey wondered. On the way to school that morning, Emily told Casey that she had an idea, but wouldn't go into detail.

"I'm going to go over there and talk to Derek," she stated simply.

Casey stared at her dumbly. "That's it?"

"Well, he's not going to talk to you," Emily pointed out. "Maybe he'll say something to me."

Emily didn't look confident, but Casey figured it was better to try than never know. "Fine. Go," Casey said, nudging Emily into the hallway.

As Emily walked towards the two boys, Casey peeked her head out to watch.

When Derek noticed Emily was making her way over to him, Casey saw that he immediately started shaking his head. She could tell Emily was making an effort, but Derek seemed closed off. He soon slammed his locker shut and stalked away.

Casey sighed. She hadn't thought it would be that easy, but she still held a single strand of hope that it would work out.

"Thanks for trying, Em," Casey said, as she joined Emily and Sam at Derek's locker.

"Yeah, sorry I wasn't much help," Emily commented sadly. She looked over at Sam. "Seriously, what is wrong with your best friend?"

"Hey, he has every right to be pissed after what you guys did to him," Sam replied, defending Derek.

Both Casey and Emily shared a confused look, before turning to Sam. "Wait, what?" Casey asked her former boyfriend. "We didn't do anything."

Sam took in their bewildered gazes. "He knows about the bet," he simply stated.

"Bet?" Emily pondered. "But the only bet I can think of isn't something Derek would get mad about…" Casey nodded in agreement.

"I'm pretty sure a bet involving Casey to pretend to like Derek would piss him off," Sam deadpanned.

"That's – That's not," Casey sputtered. "Oh, God," she breathed out. She leaned back against the lockers to support herself since she was feeling faint.

"That's not what the bet really was, was it?" Sam predicted.

"No," Emily declared for Casey. She smacked Sam on the shoulder. "How could you think we would do something like that?!"

Sam rubbed the back of his head nervously. "It didn't seem like something you guys would do," Sam admitted sheepishly, "but Derek swore he heard you guys saying that."

"I have to find him," Casey stated. "I need him to know that this was not some bet. That it was real."

"How are you going to do that?" Sam questioned. "He's pretty convinced he can avoid you until graduation."

Casey then pulled Sam and Emily close in a huddle to tell them her plan.

…

She was under the staircase, hiding out. Sam was on the outside, waiting for Derek to come by, while Emily was on the opposite side, standing there so Derek couldn't immediately run away.

The bell for class had rung a minute ago, and even though the keener in her kept telling her to high-tail it to class, she knew this was more important right now. Plus, Derek should be walking by fairly soon; he was almost always late, but never too late.

"Hey, Sam, you skipping today?" she heard Derek ask Sam. Casey's heart sped up at the prospect that her plan was officially about to take place.

"Actually," Sam started off, "I have to show you something."

Suddenly, Derek was pushed roughly under the staircase. He almost lost his balance, but righted himself just in time. "What in the hell-" he started, but stopped as soon as his eyes laid on Casey.

"Derek, you have to listen to me," she pleaded.

"I don't have to listen to anything," he spoke coldly, turning sharply to leave, but was blocked by Emily. He then made to leave on the other side, but that was blocked off by Sam. "You're in on this? You're helping them?!" Derek spoke outrageously to Sam.

"Just listen to them, D," Sam told him.

Derek shook his head. "Did they brainwash you or something?" he asked incredulously. "I'm not listening to one word. I thought you had my back."

Sam sighed. "I do, which is why I want you to listen to Casey."

Derek looked around the staircase. He must have sensed that he had no escape, so he faced Casey. "Well?" he let out impatiently.

"Derek, you got the wrong idea," Casey said. "I wasn't pretending to like you."

"What? Did you and Em start the bet and you suddenly started to have real feelings for me?" Derek barked out a dry laugh. "That's a little too romantic-comedy themed, don't you think?"

"That was never the bet to begin with!" Casey insisted. "The bet with Emily was only for me to stop fighting with you! I was pretending to be nice to you, so I wouldn't fight with you."

Derek eyed her curiously. She had a feeling that part of him believed her, but another part (bigger part) still had its doubts.

"Derek, you have to believe me," Casey implored, her voice breaking.

"I want to believe you," Derek confessed quietly. "I – I just don't know if I can."

Casey's heart clenched at his words.

"She didn't even win the bet," Emily chirped in.

Derek whirled around to look at their neighbor. "Huh?"

"Casey lost the bet before you guys even kissed or got together," Emily elaborated. "If her feelings were fake, why would she have kept kissing you and why would she have agreed to go out with you? If her feelings were fake, why would she have called me Saturday night in tears?"

"Em," Casey weakly warned, embarrassed.

"No, Casey," Emily said, glaring heavily at Derek. "What evidence do you need, Derek? Do you want to read our texts? Our e-mails?"

"Listen, can I just talk to Casey alone for a bit?" Derek requested loudly, cutting into Emily's rant. "Alone?" he added, as he looked from Emily to Sam.

Sam and Emily both silently asked Casey if it was alright. Casey nodded her head, so they both stepped outside.

Derek waited a moment before speaking. "Like I said, I want to believe you. So, explain this whole bet. Please."

Casey took a deep breath. "We had been fighting that morning, like usual," she began. "And Emily was trying to convince me that you were more than just a jerk. Eventually it boiled down to Emily betting me that I couldn't be nice to you for a whole week."

"Any stipulations?" Derek asked.

"Obviously, I couldn't fight with you, since that wouldn't be 'nice'. And if I won, I got a shopping spree, courtesy of Emily's birthday money. If Emily won, well…she would have had at least a day or so's worth of silence."

Derek nodded his head, taking in all this information. "So, that's why you were basically avoiding me when you started the bet. You didn't want to spark a fight."

"Yeah," Casey admitted softly. "And I'll admit that I was extra sweet when I found out it freaked you out so much."

Derek smirked, but his mood still felt somber. "So what changed? What made this go from you just being nice to me to…" he asked, trailing off when he couldn't find the right words.

"You," she let out breathlessly. She took a step closer to him. "You started being nice back. You had made me breakfast and left me a flower. You were just treating me like a regular person and it make me realize that you're not a bad guy."

Derek stayed silent, so Casey decided to continue. "Then we started watching hockey together. This was around the time that Emily started telling me that she thought you liked me. Even Paul thought you liked me."

"You told Paul?!" Derek interjected surprisingly.

"Not the point," Casey countered. "But Paul asked me that day about how I felt towards you, and at first I didn't think it was possible to like you, but quickly it made so much sense about why I did. The fighting we've always done masked my feeling so well, but when that stopped it became almost impossible for me to ignore."

"I like you, Derek," she stated. "I like you so, so much that-"

She never got to finish her sentence because Derek swiftly kissed her, pulling her flat up against him as he moved his mouth over her own. Casey's was shocked to say the least, but she reveled in it as she kissed him back and clung on to his shirt.

"That's all I wanted to hear, Case," he said as he broke away from the kiss. "I believe you."

Casey beamed. She could feel the water rising in behind her eyes from the sheer happiness that she felt over Derek believing her.

He pulled her into his chest and rested his head along the side of hers. "I'm sorry I thought you would do something like that. I – I just assumed the worse because I couldn't fathom you actually liked me back in the first place." He hugged her tighter.

"It's alright," Casey said into his chest, rubbing his back.

"I promise I'll talk to you first before I go jumping to conclusions again."

"Damn right," Casey mumbled. They both laughed. The tenseness of the situation was slowly evaporating, and Casey knew then that they would be alright. Things might still be stiff for a little while, but it would eventually be okay.


	20. Chapter 20

"What are you up to this weekend?" Casey asked her best friend after the final bell duo left their classroom and began walking down the hallway to their lockers.

Emily ducked her head shyly. "Well…" she began, pausing for a moment to seemingly gather courage, "Sam asked me out," she confessed quietly.

Casey stopped dead in her tracks, pulling Emily back to stand in the middle of the hallway with her. "You and Sam?!" she asked excitedly, beaming for her best friend.

Emily looked up at her best friend, sighing in relief. "So, you're not mad or anything? I mean, he is your ex."

"No!" Casey immediately assured Emily. "I'm so happy for you! And Sam! Plus, I have Derek now. This is great!"

Emily smiled widely, happy to have her best friend's blessing. "Speaking of Derek, are you guys doing anything? A date perhaps?" Emily asked Casey as they both reached their lockers.

Casey shrugged, reaching in her locker to grab a couple books she needed. "We've been spending the last couple days just talking everything out, we haven't really talked about going on our first date," she admitted surprisingly.

"Well, this weekend would be as good a time as any," Emily commented, shutting her locker.

"Yeah," Casey let out, smiling at the idea. "I actually have an idea, but I'll just tell Derek tonight."

"Tell Derek what tonight?" he whispered into her ear.

Casey whipped around quickly, surprised by the sudden voice. "Der-ek!" she hollered when she saw it was him. "You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry," he apologized half-heartedly, grinning teasingly at her. "Now, what is this about you telling me something?" he wondered, looking at the two girls curiously.

"I'll just tell you at home," Casey assured him, shutting her locker door.

"You sure?" Derek asked, smirking down at her. He had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that made Casey furrow her eyebrows.

"Yes…" she answered unsurely.

"Okay," he said, letting the subject drop for now. "You ready to go?"

Casey looked in her bag to make sure she had everything she needed. "I think so."

Derek grinned at her. "Great!"

Before Casey even had a chance to say goodbye to Emily, Derek whisked her away to the Prince.

…

"What's the big hurry?" Casey asked Derek as he quickly drove out of the school's parking lot and out on to the main street.

"No hurry," he spoke, keeping his eyes firmly on the road.

Casey raised an eyebrow at him. His one hand was tapping along the steering wheel restlessly and he wasn't fighting her over the radio station. He looked like he was up to no good.

"I know I'm good looking, but there's no reason to stare, Case," he stated cockily. He looked over at her long enough to send her his signature smirk before turning back to the road.

Casey scoffed. Sure, he was good looking, but she didn't have to feed his ego all the time. "You're acting weird," she observed, looking him over. "Did you do something to Lassiter again and need to make a quick runaway?"

"You'll see," was all Derek let on as he continued to drive.

Casey rolled her eyes, but decided not to press the subject. She'd get it out of him once they got home. It was then that she noticed that Derek was driving her nowhere near their house. "Derek, where are we going? You passed our turn."

"Oh, we're not going home just yet," he said, grinning excitedly.

"Derek," Casey began, "where are we going? You know I don't like surprises!"

"Calm down," Derek instructed as he pulled into a parking lot. Casey quickly realized it was the parking lot for the arena Derek's team played their home games at.

"I thought you didn't have practice today."

"I don't," Derek said simply, parking into one of the many vacant places. "Come on!" he said, getting out of the car.

Casey got out of the car curiously, but stood rooted next to the vehicle, apprehensive. She hated surprises and wasn't so sure if she would like this one or not.

Derek sighed when he noticed she wasn't following him. "I promise you it's not anything bad," he assured her.

She crossed her arms and pursed her lips, clearly not amused. "I don't like this."

He walked over to her and placed his hands on her waist. "Stop making cute, pouty faces and just come inside," he asked her, squeezing her hips playfully. "Trust me."

He was giving her his own puppy-dog pout and she had no resolve. "Fine," she gave in.

Derek grinned triumphantly, pecking her quickly on the mouth. He then took her hand in his, tugging her to the entrance of the arena excitedly.

He took her down a couple halls before they reached the area where the actual ice rink was. There, inside the center face-off circle, was a blanket laid out nicely with a picnic basket.

Casey gasped. "Derek," she let out softly, truly speechless.

He squeezed her hand affectionately as he continued to guide her closer to the rink. Once at a certain section of the boards, Casey saw it was opened for them to easily get on the ice.

"Hold on," Derek instructed, making sure he had a firm grip on her hands as they both stepped on the ice in their regular-day shoes. "Try to keep Klutzilla from surfacing," he teased as they slowly made their way to the blanket.

"You're lucky I need you for balance or else I'd push you," she said, huffing in annoyance.

Derek laughed. "You'd really be so mean to me after I did all of this for you?"

Casey stuck her tongue out at him. "Are we even allowed to be here?" she wondered, taking in the empty arena as they finally reached the blanket safely.

"Of course," Derek assured her, rolling his eyes. "Coach owed me a favor."

"Your coach trusted you with a whole arena?" Casey asked doubtfully as they both sat down.

Derek sarcastically gasped. "Are you implying that I'm not responsible?"

Casey snorted, shaking her head amusingly. "Never," she mockingly swore.

"You hurt my feelings," he let out, sighing dramatically.

"I'm sorry," Casey said, babying him. "What can I do to make you feel better?"

Derek smirked gleefully. "A kiss would be a nice start," he responded, pointing to his lips.

"If I must," Casey said, crawling the little way to Derek.

She leaned over to drop a small, quick kiss on Derek. However when she pulled away, Derek cupped her face and pulled her back down to continue the kiss just a little bit longer. She could feel him smiling, which spurred a smile of her own.

"I think that warrants some cheesecake," Derek said when he pulled back.

Derek reached into the basket by his side and pulled out two plates that had a piece of cheesecake on each. He got them both forks and napkins, along with something to drink.

"You know, Derek, this is quite romantic," Casey admitted, taking in her surroundings. "I'm impressed."

"Good," he let out, clearly relieved. "Just don't expect me to feed you or recite poetry. I'm not stooping down to that level of cheesiness."

Casey laughed. "When did you even get to the time to get this all ready?" she asked before taking another bite of her food.

"Skipped last period," he replied nonchalantly.

Casey put down her fork and stared at him, appalled. "Der-ek!"

He shrugged. "Not like anything happens in that class anyway. Plus, Sam's in there so if I did miss something, he'll let me know."

"As much as I appreciate this, please don't skip class again for me."

"So I can skip class for myself then?" he questioned with a quirked lip.

"No!" Casey exclaimed, pointing her fork at him sternly.

Derek chuckled, finishing up his cheesecake. "Okay, Princess Keener."

Good-humoredly, Casey threw the remaining parts of her cheesecake at Derek. Giggling, while he sputtered at the impact.

"How dare you!" he let out playfully, crawling quickly to Casey's side to rub the cake around her face too.

"Ahh, Derek! Stop!" she hollered, laughing frantically.

He leaned back, letting out a few laughs himself. He threw Casey's napkin at her, then used his own to wipe his face off. "You ready for the second part of this date?"

"I'm listening," she said.

Derek went back to the basket, but this time pulled out two pairs of skates. "We are going to go skating, of course!"

…

After skating a few laps around the rink, Derek had a suggestion for her.

"How about I teach you how to skate backwards?" he asked, leaving her side to move in front of her, demonstrating it.

"I'm just going to fall on my butt," Casey answered, already dismissing the idea. She was happy skating regularly.

"Come on!" Derek goaded. He stopped, causing Casey to skate right into him. Years of hockey allowed him to barely budge. "I'll be right here. I won't let you fall."

"Fine," Casey gave in, knowing Derek would keep bugging her until she did. "But the first time I fall, I'm done." Derek nodded.

Derek took both of her hands in both of his, holding them tight. "Alright, now you want to make your legs go out and then together and then out again. Just keep doing that."

Casey slowly tried stepping backwards, but fumbled almost immediately. But true to his word, Derek held on to her steady.

"Go on. Don't think about it so much," Derek advised. "And bend your knees."

She took a breath, trying to do as he said. She bent her knees and tried pushing herself backwards. She pulled her feet outward like Derek told her.

"Pull your feet in now," Derek reminded her with a patient smile.

She smiled back at him as she pulled her feet inwards. She continued this until they reached the other end of the rink.

"I did it!" she exclaimed happily.

"Yes, you did," he said, proud of her. "Do you want to try without me?" Casey immediately shook her head, to which Derek laughed. "Okay, okay. I won't push you that much."

Derek pulled her around so that she could go back down the way she came.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it," Casey said, pushing her legs in and out confidently.

"You're doing really good," Derek encouraged.

Casey chanced a look over her shoulder – to judge how much room she had left to go – but the action threw her off balance and she stumbled over her feet. Derek was surprised by the action himself, so he didn't have enough time to steady himself to catch her. Thus, Casey fell down, pulling Derek down with her.

"Umph," Casey let out as Derek crashed on top of her.

"Sorry," Derek said, quickly moving to the side.

They both laid down, shoulder to shoulder on the ice, catching their breath.

"I guess I don't have the hang of it," Casey confessed, beginning to laugh. Derek laughed along with her.

After their laughter settled down, Derek turned on his side to view Casey. She did the same.

Slowly, Derek's hand reached up to Casey's face, caressing it delicately. "You alright?"

Casey leaned into his touch and moved her hand to shadow Derek's. "I'm fine."

"Good," Derek said, smiling softly at her.

He leaned forward to kiss her, letting his hand travel from her cheek to the back of her neck. Her own two hands fisted around his shirt, pulling him closer to her as they continued to slide their lips over the others.

Derek pushed her, causing her to lightly fall onto her back again. The sudden coldness from the ice made her gasped, which Derek saw as the perfect opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth – tracing her bottom teeth before reaching for her own tongue.

A moan eventually fell from Casey's mouth, causing a groan to escape Derek's. They pulled apart then, staring at each other with dark eyes and heavy breaths.

"Case," Derek started, still panting, "will you be my girlfriend?"

Casey laughed. Derek _would_ ask her in this sort of manner, but, really, it felt sort of perfect. "Yes," she answered with a huge grin.

…

"Derek, you need to need to tone down the happiness," Casey commented, giggling. "Or else the family is going to think they need to send you to the loony bin."

It was true. Ever since they got back home, Derek couldn't keep the grin off his face. So much that at dinner their family kept sending him questioning looks and asking him what he was up to. Casey had bite her lip from laughing although she found it extremely adorable.

"I can't help it," he stated, looking at her with so much emotion behind his eyes that Casey felt a shiver run up her back.

They were currently sitting in the living room, watching a hockey game on the couch together.

Derek reached out to hold her hand. "You have no idea how long I've wanted this," he whispered, diverting his eyes to their linked hands – embarrassed and uncomfortable with his sudden admission.

Casey and Derek have talked a lot about multiple things the past week, but the longevity of Derek's feelings have never come up, nor the depth. But from Derek's tone just now and his overall happiness, Casey could only guess that he had liked her for a long time and that his feelings ran very strong.

Casey took her free hand and cupped Derek's face so that she could lift his head, making their gazes meet. Once Derek's eyes locked with hers, Casey leaned in to give him a kiss.

"Casey? Derek?" astounded voices spoke, breaking the teens from their kiss.

They were met by the shocked eyes and slacked jaws connected to their parents. Casey and Derek instantly put space between them.

"What is going on here?" George asked as he and Nora walked further into the living room.

Derek and Casey shared a nervous look.

"Um, you see," Derek began, "Casey was just trying to teach me the proper mouth-to-mouth technique for CPR, you know, in case-"

"Derek," Casey quickly cut in before he came up with the most atrocious excuse known to man. One look at their parents and anyone could tell they already didn't believe a word coming out of Derek's mouth.

Derek's brows furrowed in confusion, silently asking her what she was doing. She tried to reassure him with a smile, though it was tight with nerves.

Taking Derek's hand in hers, Casey bravely faced George and Nora. "Derek and I are dating."

Nora immediately took a seat in the arm chair in the corner, while George stood stock still in front of the television with his hands on his hips.

"Well this," George began, motioning to the couch and the hockey game on TV, "whole set up makes a whole lot of sense now."

He didn't sound mad, per se. Casey took that as a good sign.

"How long?" Nora spoke up quietly.

"Derek just took me on our first date today," Casey answered, not exactly wanting to go too into detail.

Nora nodded along. She was obviously trying to digest it. George too, if his glazed, far away expression indicated anything. They were both probably trying to pinpoint when this all happened with extra scrutiny.

"Mom, George" Casey said, calling for their attention. When they both looked at her, she continued. "We _really_ like each other. I promise this isn't some reckless, rebellious action for attention. We're serious about this."

George sighed. "I know you're serious, Casey. However, my son…" he said trailing off.

Casey saw Derek divert his attention. She instantly knew Derek was hurt by his dad's words.

"George," Casey said, speaking up, "if anything, Derek is more serious about this relationship than I am."

The older Venturi's eyebrows skyrocketed to his hairline. "Is this true, Derek?" George asked, definitely flabbergasted by Casey's statement.

Derek looked his father dead in the eyes. "Of course," he stated softly and earnestly.

George looked at Nora, who looked back at him. Their eyes were speaking a conversation that their mouths weren't. Suddenly George nodded, having come to a conclusion.

"We're going to support you in your relationship," George said, "as long as you are responsible about this and treat this relationship seriously."

The two teenagers nodded their heads, agreeing eagerly.

"Also," Nora piped up, rising from her seat. "if you are in the other's room, the door must be open – just like if it was any other boyfriend or girlfriend."

"And no funny-funny business under this roof," George quickly added, though his attention was mainly on Derek.

Casey blushed profoundly, but Derek smirked. "Sure thing, dad," he said, winking.

"I mean it, Derek," George said sternly.

Derek reluctantly nodded his head, promising their parents that they would behave and stick to their rules.

"Nora and I are going to head back downstairs now," George commented as him and Nora started walking away. "But remember, no funny business!" he reminded them again, wagging his finger in disapproval before Nora pushed her husband into the kitchen, waving at the pair as she did.

Derek chuckled at the scene before he turned to his girlfriend. "So, you told the rents."

Casey nodded her head shyly. "I mean they pretty much had it figured out, but…I don't want to hide this from anyone anymore."

Derek eyes softened as a smile spread out over his face. He then picked up her hand and held it up to his lips, kissing it sweetly. "I just wanted to be able to show you off."

"I'm not a trophy, Der," she lightly chastised him.

Derek rolled his eyes. "At least now Noel won't try to hit on you."

Casey playfully swatted her boyfriend on the chest, laughing. "You're so bad."

"Good thing you like bad boys then, eh?" Derek countered smoothly, dipping down to give her a quick kiss.

"Oh, yeah," she drawled, sarcasm dripping off her words. But nevertheless, Casey scooted closer to Derek and laid her head on his chest.

Derek immediately put his arm around her shoulders. "This is nice," he murmured into her hair as he laid a kiss there.

"Mmm," she hummed pleasantly, snuggling comfortingly into Derek's embrace.

"What was that thing you wanted to tell me?" Derek questioned minutes later, just as the first intermission began.

"What thing?" Casey asked innocently.

"When you were talking to Emily after school today, you said you were going to tell me something," Derek clarified.

"Oh!" she let out, realization kicking in as she shot up from her seat.

"Case?"

"I almost forgot, but I have a surprise for you," she said, quickly walking over to her purse by the front-door.

Derek raised a questioning eyebrow at her, while watching her pull out an envelope from her bag. She made her way back, handing the envelope to Derek as she sat back down next to him.

He looked at his girlfriend quizzically. "Nothing's going to fly out at me, is it?" he humorously asked, shaking the contents to try and figure out what was inside.

"Just open it!" she said, practically buzzing with her excitement.

Derek finally opened it, smirking at the contents immediately. "Maple Leafs tickets."

"I want to try and redo that date," Casey said, biting her lip.

He flashed her a smile. "I want a redo for that date too."

"And look who they're facing," Casey further said, pointing to the tickets.

Derek barked out a laugh. "Tampa Bay, eh?" he said, shaking his head. "Do I have to worry about that Stamkos guy sweeping you off your feet?"

Casey shook her head, before cuddling close to Derek, letting him engulf her in his arms securely. "Not a chance."


End file.
